Almost Facts

Okay, let's try something new. Let's crowd-source today's blog post. This will depend in part upon your willingness to leave comments, which will depend in part on your ability and willingness to log onto Google Blogger. 


The process is simple. Make up a fact. Really make it up. Don't look it up. Make it up. 


Make it as real sounding as you can. The sort of thing that people hear and say "wow, what a cool fact! I never knew that!"


I'll pitch in one or two to start. Then I want all of you to make up facts and leave them as comments. If nobody participates, I'll know that (a) nobody reads this blog, (b) nobody likes to comment, or (c) people do read and want to comment, but have some impediment to doing so. Let's find out.


Deke's Almost Facts.

1. Ketchup was invented in 1850 during the California Gold Rush when west-bound travelers in the US found some of their produce, especially fresh tomatoes, going bad. They learned that spreading the mushy tomatoes on food as a kind of paste added flavor and thus Ketchup was born.

2. Elephants, which are among the most intelligent animals on earth, can often be taught basic dance steps, such as simple line dances, by trainers who hold up fruit at feeding time and perform the steps themselves. The elephants will very often spontaneously match the dance steps quite accurately, and seem to enjoy it.

As far as I know, neither of those are true. But they sort of sound like they could be, right?

Please join in and make up a fact and POST IT AS A COMMENT. I'm interested in seeing how this works out.

Thanks!

Fourth Amendment Protections

Technology and privacy in a changing world

(The usual disclaimers apply, starting with "I am not a lawyer, and I don’t play one on TV")

Technology can radically challenge the balance of many things, including the expectation of privacy. With new technologies (like GPS) and practices (like the broad deployment of cameras in public spaces) come changes in the real privacy we experience, and perhaps what privacy we should expect. Should the interpretation of the constitution and the fourth amendment also change with the times?

The Supreme Court of the United States ruled this past week that law enforcement must have a valid search warrant in order to attach a GPS device to a car for investigative purposes. The ruling was unanimous, but the opinions varied.

While Justice Antonin Scalia ruled narrowly on trespass and private property, two other Associate Justices, Samuel Alito and Sonia Sotomayor, filed concurring opinions that seemed to go quite a bit farther toward recognizing the “subjective expectation of privacy that society recognizes as reasonable,” and how an attached GPS device violates that expectation.

I find it very encouraging that the court is willing to think more broadly on how our rights are affected by changes in technologies and practices. Many common technologies in use today to help travelers, to help keep city streets safer, to help companies effectively market their products and services, can also be used to track people, especially in certain combinations. This was an important ruling on a crucial privacy matter, central to how fourth amendment protections apply today. 


Will this ruling have impact on the related topic of location data associated with smartphone use? On extreme tracking of online activity on the web and the correlation of related data to profile users? What's your "reasonable expectation?" Leave a comment and let us know.


For a much more thorough discussion of fourth amendment concerns in the digital age, see Christopher Slobogin's chapter in the book Constitution 3.0.

Links:

• http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/11pdf/10-1259.pdf
• http://www.networkworld.com/community/blog/supreme-court-backs-privacy-over-police-gps-case
• http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203806504577178811800873358.html?mod=wsj_share_goog
• http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1734755
• http://www.brookings.edu/press/Books/2011/constitution30.aspx

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Walking Again

The beginning of an age of bionics?

Technology already extends our abilities and help to compensate for abilities we've lost. A wheelchair is an amazingly useful technological approach to help those who have lost the use of their legs to move around. But innovations from multiple research groups and start-ups are showing that even greater strides (pun intended) are about to be made. Bionics.

Maybe you've seen a Ted Talk featuring a military use of an exoskeleton to assist soldiers needing to carry heavy gear, and a wheelchair-bound woman who had suffered a spinal cord injury, using an exoskeleton to walk for the first time in many years. Or maybe you've seen a holiday episode of the popular television show Glee in which Artie (a glee club member who uses a wheelchair) dons an exoskeleton to walk.


This month, a company called Exso Bionics is making their exoskeleton available commercially. The Exso Bionics web site says that "Ekso is the bionic exoskeleton that allows wheelchair users to stand and walk." Sounds simple.

The price tag is still roughly $100,000. But it's fair to assume that the price can come down with manufacturing efficiencies and volume.


Do you think we'll start to see people using exoskeletons in every day life in the next few years? Leave a comment and let us know what you think.

Links:

• http://www.ted.com/talks/eythor_bender_demos_human_exoskeletons.html
• http://www.israel21c.org/health/a-moment-of-glee-for-argo-medical
• http://www.eksobionics.com/ekso
• http://spectrum.ieee.org/biomedical/bionics/goodbye-wheelchair-hello-exoskeleton

Ultra Thin, Ultra High Contrast TV

(I promised to cover a few items getting buzz at the Consumer Electronics Show held last week in Las Vegas. This piece is the fourth and final in that series)

Though I'm not a huge TV aficionado myself (the only TV I can see from where I'm sitting at the moment is a 13 year old standard def TV!), television can be really big at the Consumer Electronics Show. This year it was big and thin. 55 inches may be far from the largest of television sets available, but there was something special about what was being shown by two well known manufacturers.

LG was first, showing their highly anticipated 55-inch OLED TV at CES 2012. The picture on the 55EM9800, by report of all who saw it in person, is astounding. Bright colors, high contrast, great viewing angles, high performance for fast changing display, all in a sleek and manageable (about 17 lbs.) ultra-thin (4mm at its thinnest point) package. The 55EM9800 can handle 3D and makes use of current LG 3D glasses. Prices haven't been announced, but industry insiders have estimated between $8,000 and $10,000 as an initial price.

Samsung followed soon after with an announcement at CES 2012 of their own 55-inch OLED television, set for release in the second half of 2012.

Is a television set of this highest quality a priority for you? Would you pay top dollar for such a display?  Please leave a comment and let us know what you think!

Links:

• http://ces.cnet.com/8301-33379_1-57354698/lgs-55-inch-oled-tv-packed-with-3d-bells-smart-tv-whistles/?tag=mncol%3bcontentBody.4
• http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2398590,00.asp

Thanks for reading! A blog works best with active participation. If you enjoy this blog, please +1 it and leave a comment. Share it on Twitter, Google+ or Facebook. More readers will drive more discussion.

Parrot AR Drone 2

Cool "toy" delivers serious Augmented Reality


(I promised to cover a few items getting buzz at the Consumer Electronics Show held last week in Las Vegas. This piece is the third in that series)



The Parrot AR Drone is a remote control flying copter-device with four rotors (a "quadricopter") positioned in a 2x2 grid. It's flight can be controlled from Apple iOS devices such as the iPad, and now Android devices, and the flight software takes advantage of touch and tilt elements of the interface. The AR name stands for Augmented Reality, which I'll describe in a moment.


The AR Drone was shown off at CES this year, as it was each of the last two years. But this year Parrot was showing off a significant upgrade. This newest model, the AR.Drone 2.0, has a 1280×720 pixel forward-facing main camera that shows the view that a pilot would have in flight. It also has a 320×240 pixel downward-facing camera in its underbelly, which is used to view the ground for feedback used in flight and in landing. The main camera can record that view of a flight, which suggests some fun possibilities such as chasing your friends around the backyard, spying on your little sister and her friends, looking into the neighbors windows, etc. – though I'm sure the good people at Parrot had none of those uses in mind when they developed the device. Instead, they had Augmented Reality in mind.


The Augmented Reality comes from the use of the video feed from the on board camera, a set of overlays on the user interface, and the ability to interact with the environment – especially another AR Drone. Two or more AR.Drone operators can participate in "in-air battles" in the same virtual airspace, each user seeing real flight in real space, and virtual shots fired and scored on the tablet user interface.

Navigating the device from a smartphone or tablet can make use of one of two main modes. In the classic "relative mode" the pilot needs to think of his position as if flying on the device. Thus, if the device was crossing in front of you and flying to your right, "forward" would take it farther to your right. In the new "absolute mode" of flight, the controls from an iOS device allow the AR.Drone to be moved in the absolute direction you tilt the iOS control, no matter which way the AR is facing. So tilting an iPad acting as controller back toward you moves the device in that absolute direction. That "absolute" flight approach is a little more complicated for the software, but probably more intuitive for new flyers.

Is the Parrot AR.Drone a toy, or is it the beginning of something larger and more interesting? Can you see yourself spending a little over $200 to own one?

Please leave a comment and let us know what you think!

Links:

• http://ardrone.parrot.com/parrot-ar-drone/usa/
• http://appadvice.com/appnn/2012/01/ces-2012-parrot-reveals-the-next-generation-of-their-augmented-reality-quadricopter

Thanks for reading! A blog works best with active participation. If you enjoy this blog, please +1 it and leave a comment. Share it on Twitter, Google+ or Facebook. More readers will drive more discussion.

Ultrabooks Big at CES

The Future of Laptops is Slim


(I promised to cover a few items getting buzz at the Consumer Electronics Show this week. This piece is the second in that series)

There are a few trends emerging from CES 2012, but one of the strongest seems to be "Ultrabooks."  The term is an Intel trademark, and indeed all the ultrabooks being shown at CES have Intel processors. But the term seems to indicate ultra-slim laptop computers with solid state storage and long life battery. Sort of like the MacBook air, introduced a full four years ago at MacWorld.

Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo, LG, Samsung and others all introduced ultrabook models at CES. Wired has a nice piece describing 11 of their favorite ultrabooks and tables. The Lenovo Yoga looks quite interesting in that it is a sort of ultrabook/tablet hybrid.

The product category really does seem to be an important one. The future of laptops is slim. My impression is that laptop users largely rejected the low-cost low-performance "netbook" idea of a few years ago. I think that many now prefer to use tablets in that low-cost, light device, simple access space. They want full function and portability for their laptops, which is where ultrabooks seem to shine.

Seems like Apple really had this one nailed before the competition: they rejected netbooks, introduced the MacBook Air, and then introduced the iPad.

Is an ultrabook in your future? Is a smartphone in your pocket, a tablet in your hand, and an ultrabook back at your desk (or in your messenger bag) the magic combination for an information worker? Leave a comment and let us know what you think.

Links:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultrabook
• http://zenbook.asus.com/news/?t=pr&s=93
• http://www.techspot.com/news/47000-dell-joins-ultrabook-party-at-ces-with-the-xps-13.html
• http://www.itproportal.com/2012/01/11/hp-debuts-envy-spectre-ultrabook-ces/
• http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-501465_162-57357737-501465/lenovo-unveils-ultrabook-tablet-hybrid-at-ces-2012/
• http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/04/lg-ces-2012-z330-z430-ultrabook-p535-a540-laptop-v330-desktop/
• http://www.zdnet.com/blog/mobile-news/best-ultrabook-of-ces-2012-samsung-series-9/6409
• http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/01/11-must-see-ultrabooks-and-tablets-from-ces-2012/?pid=2859&viewall=true

Thanks for reading!

If you enjoy this blog, please +1 it below, share it on Facebook, Google+ or Twitter, or suggest it to your friends. More readers will drive more discussion.

Nest Thermostat

Next Steps In Home Energy Management

(I promised to cover a few items getting buzz at the Consumer Electronics Show this week. Here's the first of them)

You almost certainly have a thermostat in your house or apartment. Maybe you try your best to use it well to manage heating and cooling energy in your space. Maybe you mostly ignore it. Maybe you curse it. But you probably don't love your thermostat. The Nest just might change that.


The Nest Learning Thermostat is truly the next generation. It's a very intelligent thermostat which learns as you use it. Adjust the temperature and the Nest recognizes the changes you make and the times of day you make them. Over a short period of time (days), it develops a profile of use and applies it. Unlike cumbersome programmable thermostats, which you program through tedious menus and steps, the Nest learns from what you actually do with it. Once your patterns are established, one time changes won't change the pattern the Nest uses, but a few repetitions of that change over a few days and the pattern will be adjusted. Beyond that, the Nest can be accessed from an iPhone, iPad or Android device to adjust settings from the couch or from a much greater distance.


Co-founders Tony Fadell and Matt Rogers set out to reinvent the thermostat using the lessons of the best consumer electronics, with pleasing user interfaces and progressive learning. They hoped to create something that would help people to save energy and money using a device that made it much simpler, and much more satisfying to do so. They put serious design effort into the project, and serious horsepower in the box as a TechCrunch Teardown of the device reveals. 


The Nest is in short supply right now, but my friend Jorj Bauer has one and says that he likes that "its interface isn't from 1970." His whole family uses it and they really like that the unit can adjust appropriately when they are out of the house, saving energy.


The $250 price tag is quite high for a thermostat, but it really could help you save serious money over the long term, and might just help you to have a little fun as you think about home energy conservation. 

Many of the devices at CES this week are more exotic than this one, but the Nest is a device I could really see myself buying. What about you? Leave a comment and let us know.


Links:

• http://www.nest.com/
• http://techcrunch.com/2011/12/22/nest-arm-zigbee/
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=QCJ1PnVlzIE
• http://jorj.org/about.shtml

Thanks for reading!

If you enjoy this blog, please +1 it below, share it on Facebook, Google+ or Twitter, or suggest it to your friends. More readers will drive more discussion.

CES 2012

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2012, with well over 100,000 attendees, is getting going this week in Las Vegas.

Though CES is a multi-faceted event with press briefings, key notes, tech sessions and more, the booths are what interest many. At these vendor booths, products and product ideas for consumer electronics are displayed and demonstrated, and their design teams get a sense for how the public will react. Some of these new products are radical, some not. Some are just now coming to market, some are nothing more than concepts and probably never will come to market at all.

What rumors are you hearing? What press releases are catching your ear? Are there some things coming out of CES that might make good RapidGroove topics? If so, leave a comment or drop me a line and let me know.

At least one or two blog entries coming up will be about things coming out of CES.

Thanks for reading!

If you enjoy this blog, please +1 it below, share it on Facebook, Google+ or Twitter, or suggest it to your friends. More readers will drive more discussion.

A Radically New Vehicle

Space-Age Wheels

I’m often drawn to radically new and different vehicles, whether personal vehicles like the Segway or X-Prize-winning civilian space flight vehicles.

San Francisco-based Lit Motors is reportedly developing a really interesting new vehicle. It's a gyroscope-stabilized enclosed electric two-wheeler. Or to put it another way, it’s a motorcycle with a roof and walls and it doesn’t get knocked over very easily. It’ll even stay upright on its own when stopped.

According to Gizmag the C1, still in concept stages, is being developed by industrial designer Daniel Kim with some design assistance from the MIT Media Lab. Prototypes are in the works, and plans call for production vehicles to be available at a price of between $16,000 and $24,000 by 2013 or 2014.

The vehicle would have advanced concepts, including the ability to use power that would otherwise be lost to braking to be put to productive use in driving the flywheels. In addition to providing stability, those flywheels will also deliver power back to the drivetrain when the vehicle is accelerating, resulting in improved efficiency.

Does this look like the future? Does it look like a vehicle you’d want to use? Leave a comment and let us know.

Thanks for reading!

If you enjoy this blog, please +1 it below, share it on Facebook, Google+ or Twitter, or suggest it to your friends. More readers will drive more discussion.

Links:

• http://litmotors.com/c1/
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQgTne7TAGY
• http://www.gizmag.com
• http://www.gizmag.com/lit-motors-c1-self-balancing-motorcycle/21002/

Apple TV Apps

iOS Apps on a Jailbroken Set Top Box

The Apple rumor mill is always active. Along with the latest iPad 3 and iPhone 5 rumors, we’ve been hearing Apple TV rumors for at least the last six months. Most of the rumors involve an actual television set with an Apple logo, and lots of speculation on exactly how Apple will re-invent the television experience. But until and unless a television set comes along, Apple TV actually refers to an existing product – the $99 “hobby” product that Apple released in 2007 with a second release in 2010.

The current Apple TV is an inexpenisve IP set top box that hooks up by HDMI to your HD TV to deliver iTunes and iPhoto content as well as YouTube, Vimeo and more. I own two of them, and I really do think they bring great value for the price. What many of us have always thought was missing was access to iOS apps. While not every iOS app would make sense on a large, shared screen, and while the lack of a touch interface presents an obvious challenge, some apps really could be great on the television. Angry Birds party anyone? How about using the IMDB app as you watch TV?

Over the last day or two, there have been reports of a proof of concept in which a jailbroken Apple TV accessed and ran iOS apps. It certainly looks interesting.

What do you think? Are there apps on your iPhone or iPad that you’d like to run on your television? Do you have thoughts on an alternative to the touch user interface that would make sense on this platform? Perhaps something like the Microsoft Kinnect?

Leave a comment and let us know!

Links:

• http://www.apple.com/appletv/
• http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2398272,00.asp
• http://www.tuaw.com/2012/01/02/proof-of-concept-ios-apps-on-jailbroken-apple-tv/
• http://www.xbox.com/kinect

Thanks for reading!

If you enjoy this blog, please +1 it below, share it on Facebook, Google+ or Twitter, or suggest it to your friends. More readers will drive more discussion.