As developers for tablets and smartphones we like to keep abreast of the latest mobile technology developments . This is a daily digest of mobile development and related technology news gathered from the BBC, the New York Times, New Scientist and the Globe and Mail to name a few. We scour the web for articles concerning, iPhone, iPad and android development, iOS and android operating systems as well as general articles on advances in mobile technology. We hope you find this useful and that it helps to keep you up to date with the latest technology developments.
Amazon pledges $2bn India investment
Amazon, one of the world’s largest online retailers, says it will invest a further $2bn (£1.2bn) to boost its operations in India.
Instagram reveals new Bolt photo app
The picture-based social media site has revealed a new Snapchat-style app that lets users send temporary messages.
WaterField Designs Unveils 15-inch Solo and 13-inch Indy for MacBooks
WaterField Designs, a leading San Francisco manufacturer of custom-fitted laptop sleeves, bags and cases for digital gear, unveils a new 15-inch Outback Solo to fit the larger upgraded MacBook Pro Retina and a new 13-inch Indy leather satchel to fit the smaller Retina. The Outback Solo sports a rugged look, combining waxed canvas with premium […]
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UK to allow driverless cars on roads
The government is to outline measures that will allow driverless cars on public roads in the UK by 2015.
The Apple Enterprise Push Quietly Continues Moving Forward
The Apple enterprise push from the consumer realm quietly but steadily continues as evidenced by their latest patent application. Over the course of the last few months I’ve pointed out that the Apple has started to move the enterprise telephony goalposts with the introduction of a new mobile security tool along, video and voice integration […]
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Peers query 'right to be forgotten'
Demands for web firms to remove personal data to respect people’s “right to be forgotten” are unreasonable, peers say.
The tech firm helping a tough area
The tech firm helping San Francisco’s tough Tenderloin area
VIDEO: Sun bracelet measures UV exposure
Testing a digital bracelet that measures sun exposure
Sleep sensor smashes Kickstarter goal
A 22-year-old British entrepreneur’s new sleep-tracking device cracks $1m (£590,000) on the Kickstarter crowdfunding platform in five days.
Briefly: Grovemade's metal iPhone docks, Kindle for iOS 4.4
Accessories producer Grovemade has announced the introduction of a limited edition run of iPhone docks comprised of metal. Called the Black Dock, the new product is available with a solid steel or brass base, combined with an aluminium cap that is protected with a matte black coating. The Black Dock is designed for iPhone 5/5s/5c and the 4/4s, and weighs 3 pounds.
Ford Motors to replace BlackBerry with iPhones for over 9,300 workers
Automaker Ford has announced that it will transition at least 9,300 corporate employees from BlackBerry models and flip phones to iPhones over the next two years. The change, which will cost the company nothing above the normal cost of a replacement cycle, is a blow to BlackBerry, but the Canadian smartphone maker can take solace in the fact that Ford chose BlackBerry’s QNX for its next-generation Sync infotainment system, replacing a previous Microsoft-based one.
NASA's Mars Rover 'Opportunity' Breaks Distance Record
Twenty-five miles and counting!
On July 27, NASA’s Mars rover Opportunity broke the record for the greatest distance traveled off-Earth, the space agency said. The rover surpassed the previous world record of 24.2 miles, which was set in 1973 by the Soviet Union’s Lunokhod 2 lunar rover.
As of Monday, Opportunity’s odometer read 25.01 miles, NASA said. Of course, the rover moves regularly — so the world record is only climbing.
“Opportunity has driven farther than any other wheeled vehicle on another world,” Mars Exploration Rover Project Manager John Callas, of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said in a written statement. “This is so remarkable considering Opportunity was intended to drive about one kilometer and was never designed for distance.”
(Story continues below.)
The record-breaking drive is quite the accomplishment for NASA, which sent the Opportunity rover to the red planet in 2004. Though Opportunity and its twin rover, Spirit, outlasted their estimated 90-day lifespans, NASA lost contact with Spirit in 2010 after it became trapped in sand.
Opportunity broke the U.S. record for the greatest distance driven off-Earth in May 2013 when it surpassed the mileage set in 1972 by the Apollo 17 moon rover.
Next up, Opportunity’s operators are looking to break the marathon mark of 26.22 miles.
Facebook's High School Reunion Problem
I like Facebook. Oh, it gets a bad rap sometimes. And it’s easy to criticize. Sure, it’s a bit of a distraction from the important things in life. But without Facebook, how else would I get constant invitations to play Candy Crush? Also, it’s fun to take those Facebook personality quizzes, like “Which Passion Of The Christ Character Are You?” and “Which Member of Norway’s 2006 Winter Olympics Team Are You?” (answers: God and speed skater Hedvig Bjelkevik) Actually, my only real problem with Facebook is that it has killed one of our great American traditions, the high school reunion.
High school reunions used to take place ten years after you graduate, or twenty-five years after you graduate. Now, high school reunions take place every morning, while you sit at your computer not doing work, browsing your former classmates’ update statuses. “Hey, the chubby guy I sat next to in biology class ran another marathon this weekend. I guess I should ‘like’ it?”
The thing I got most out of reading Charles Darwin is that human beings are not supposed to stay in touch with everyone from high school. It’s unnatural — like genetically modified food or heterosexual sex. Rather, during our teenage years, we’re in a monkey-like state. Then we evolve; we leave high school, maybe holding on to a couple of good friends if you’re lucky, then we start our lives, occasionally running into a school acquaintance at Target, and then years later we get together with all our classmates for a night of reminiscing, drunkenness, seeing who got weird-looking and revenge sex. This has been the natural, biological evolution of graduation-to-reunion for millions of years. It’s why Alabama won’t teach it in science class.
Sure, high school reunions still exist. But they’re not the same. Now, people go into their reunion already knowing the stuff they used to learn at the reunion… which was the whole point of going to the reunion. High school reunions used to be all about the “surprise” factor. Whoa, James is religious now!? Darlene is hot now!? Kyle married our English teacher!? But, because of Facebook, everyone already knows this information. So now when you meet and greet your former classmates, the conversation is more like, “So what do you think about this weather we’ve been having?”
Before Facebook, the time-honored high school reunion was the place to discover which classmates are now successful and which classmates are now failures. Before Facebook, the high school reunion was the place to discover which classmates are now happy (IE the ones who found their soul mate and got married) and which classmates are now miserable (IE the ones who found their soul mate, got married and then had children). Now, at least based on the Facebook update statuses that people write about their lives, apparently everyone is happy and successful. Look how everyone is smiling in their vacation pics.
And, shallow as it may be, let’s be honest; the biggest reason to attend your high school reunion has always been to find out how your former classmates look. But, of course, with Facebook, I bet most high school reunions don’t even bother to hand out name tags at the door anymore. Everyone already knows how everyone looks. (note: I looked good at my high school reunion. Painful as the process may be, subjecting my face to a twice-a-week chemical skin peel is really paying off.)
We’re all connected now. And this is nice. It’s a good thing. The at-one-time bullies are Facebook friendly with their victims. Former prom queens chat on-line with the unpopular nerds. The kids who were jocks are now… well, they’re still a**holes. But for the most part, Facebook has broken down the cliquish stereotypes we assumed our former classmates to be. The kids you partied with are now adults, sharing political views and news about their lives and — though smothered underneath a pile of selfies — even the occasional deep thought.
But for better or worse, social networking technology has rendered another American tradition irrelevant. And that’s kind of sad. At least I assume it’s an American tradition. Do other countries have high school reunions? I’m thinking Iraq probably doesn’t. “Hey, does anyone know if Saddam is coming tonight? He what?! Wow. Okay, then I guess that means he’s not coming.”
There have been a million movie and TV show plots in which the protagonist attends his or her high school reunion — often with the hopes of seeing an old flame or looking to settle an old score or to apologize to a classmate they once hurt and they still feel guilty about it. I bet that today’s high school students have trouble relating to these storylines. The mystery of “whatever happened to so-and-so” is a fading era, replaced by “so-and-so just changed their relationship status.”
And that’s what high school reunions are really about, and that’s what technology has taken away from us… the excitement of mystery. And that’s a small thrill that those-still-too-young-to-have-attended-their-first-high-school-reunion will miss, without even knowing they miss it. Enjoy your ten-year reunion, twenty-eight-year-olds. But know that when you walk through the doors, there won’t be any surprises.
There’s no mystery anymore. I mean, the next Avengers movie doesn’t even come out for another year, but I already know the plot. I already know everything about the new superhero characters. And I want to know everything about the movie, but yet I don’t. But yet I do. But yet I don’t. But yet I do. Do you see what I’m saying? (I’m saying that I’m a geek.)
Similarly, I love that Facebook allows me to keep in touch with so many people from my past. Thank you, Facebook. It almost makes up for funneling our personal information to government agencies and using us as human guinea pigs to sell more soda. It’s comforting to be a mouse click away from so many names that, without computers, would’ve probably just drifted into that hazy retrospective part of our brain that self-activates anytime we’re driving on an unfamiliar back road and a Sarah McLachlan song pops up on the radio. And yet, perhaps “comforting” is really just a crutch. Are our memories not enough? Sometimes I think that we’re missing out by not missing out. Eh, whatever. Most of these people will eventually unfriend you, anyway.
Of course, there are people who choose not to be part of the social networking world, who would never join Facebook. But those are the same people who have no interest in high school reunions, anyway. They’ve moved on, living in the “now” without regret, grabbing hold of every new adventure that comes their way. They don’t want to waste their time dwelling on about random former acquaintances of which they only have vague recollections. In other words, people who aren’t on Facebook are no fun.
Yes, Facebook has eliminated the need for reunions. I’m going to make a prediction. One, competitive eating champion Joey Chestnut will surpass seventy franks during next year’s July 4th Hot Dog Eating Contest. And also, in time, the traditional high school reunion will be phased out, disappearing from the cultural landscape, just like landline telephones and Miley Cyrus’ dignity. Replacing it will be a new sort of “reunion”, frequent and more spur-of-the-moment casual get-togethers. Update Status: Hey, everyone from high school! Some of us are getting together at Applebee’s tomorrow night. If you’re in town, stop by! And, hey, that could be fun, too.
Here’s a personal story…
Years ago, back in my college days, I met a beautiful girl who sat next to me during a summer class I was taking. We struck up a conversation, which then led to an exciting, unforgettable, romantic, passionate affair that lasted until the end of the summer. Then I moved back to my hometown. We never saw each other again.
Over the years, from time to time, I tried looking her up. I’m dying to see what she’s doing these days. But she had a very common name. And, honestly, I never really knew that much about her. So I was never been able to find her. And I’m sort of glad about that. Sure, I’m curious. But, in this case, I’ll take the mystery and the memories over the banal comfort of the present.
Nevertheless, if you happen to be reading this essay, Gwyneth Paltrow, I hope you’re doing well and I’d love to hear from you so hit me up on Twitter!
Can Technology Disrupt the Boardroom?
As baby boomers retire, the boardroom is ripe for a makeover and its composition is likely to change meaningfully over the coming years. This opens up opportunities for tech companies to disrupt board recruiting, an opaque process currently driven by insiders. What compelling offerings and viable business models could a technology platform provide?
Boardrooms today look like retired gentlemen’s clubs.
Board members are typically hired by CEOs who’s top criteria is that new board members get along with current board members, according to Light & Pushor, authors of reference book Into The Boardroom. Often, this means in-network hiring of people with prior board experience, which is a very limited pool and it shows in board composition, which is mostly retired men sitting on multiple boards:
- Only one in three board members is serving on their first public company board and most board members serve on multiple boards, according to leading board recruiting firm Spencer Stuart.
- Board members serve an average of nine years on a board, which means that some companies need to raise mandatory retirement ages to allow experienced board members to serve longer. The average age of a board member has risen to 63 from 60 10 years ago, and most of the newly elected board members are retired. The picture looks a little better in Europe where the average board member is 58 and serves for six years, according to board recruiting firm Egon Zehnder,
- Maybe not as dramatic as age, gender and ethnic diversity are also lacking with only 18 percent of women and 18 percent of minorities on U.S. corporate boards. Silicon Valley is surprisingly trailing with only 63 percent of boards with at least one woman, vs. 91 percent for S&P 500 companies.
Credible board recruiting platform requires qualified pool of board candidates.
A board recruiting platform caters to two types of constituents: board candidates, people interested in serving on boards, and companies looking to fill board seats. Our research shows that there are more candidates than seats so the platform needs to help surface the strongest candidates, and train the others to become more skilled board candidates.
There is lots of evidence that people interested in taking board seats are eager to signal it, so one of the first offering of a board recruiting platform would be to entice and reward board candidates for creating accounts and listing themselves as open to being considered for a board seat.
To increase their likelihood of being shortlisted by companies looked to fill a board seat, they could take some leadership training and certification that would prepare them for contributing to boards such as leading by influence, contributing effectively to audit committees, driving CEO succession planning, etc.
A solid pipeline of qualified board candidates will attract the attention of companies seeking to fill board seats. But to be compelling, the platform needs to assemble a short list of the most qualified candidates, or maybe even offer the high-touch service of sourcing a board member. These services would be especially valuable to public companies which need to comply with Sarbanes-Oxley regulations and are required to make board recruiting transparent. Pre-IPO companies, which often need to fill many board positions in a short amount of time, could also benefit from such service.
Viable board recruiting platform caters to CEOs. Pricing & partnership strategies are key.
Companies will typically seek no more than one to two board members per year, so board recruiting remains a niche market and it is fair to ask whether this niche is big enough for one, two, or possibly three technology platforms to survive and thrive. The following revenue streams need to be explored:
- Membership fee to all board candidates, priced at a few hundreds of dollars, maybe with some premium packages,
- Tuition for board preparation courses, ranging from a few thousands to tens of thousands of dollars for corporate-sponsored executive programs,
- Fee for creating a shortlist of pre-qualified board candidates for public companies required to comply with Sarbanes-Oxley regulations for transparent board recruiting, priced at tens of thousands of dollars,
- Success fee for filling a board seat, something which executive recruiting firms already do and which costs tens or sometimes even hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Knowing that there are tens of thousands of board seats to be filled in the U.S. every year, and probably a dozen qualified board candidates per board seat, we are looking at a handful of $100M businesses, which may not be attractive to venture capitalists, but are certainly very viable operations. And if combined with other CEO-level services such as fundraising, incubation and advisory board recruiting, it could make for a really attractive offering. Any taker?
Tweeting My Way Through Narcolepsy: Social Media & Chronic Illness
Blood tests, urine tests, skin tests. CBC, MRI, EEG. Needle in my back, electrodes in my hair, speculum in my you-know-where. After spending the majority of the past year undergoing extensive medical testing, I wanted my doctor to find something wrong with me. As I sat in the waiting room, I browsed the WebMD app playing a twisted game of “Would You Rather.” Looking at disease descriptions, I asked myself, “Would I rather be diagnosed with this or be told the symptoms are all in my head?” Every time, my conclusion was that the diseases — some requiring pills to cure, others requiring surgeries — were “better” than no diagnosis at all.
But ultimately, something in between happened. I was diagnosed with narcolepsy, an autoimmune disorder in which the neurons that produce hypocretin — the hormone that keeps us awake — are gradually depleted. The result? Overwhelming daytime drowsiness and sudden attacks of sleep. There is currently no pill, surgery or lifestyle change that can replace these neurons and the available symptom management options are not incredibly effective. Like millions of Americans, I was diagnosed with a chronic illness.
As I walked back to my car I got out my phone and opened Twitter. And no, I did not tweet a sad-face selfie or emoji — which hashtag is the opposite of #blessed? I searched Twitter for “narcolepsy” and found what has since been the key to my coping process: a community.
Using #narcolepsy, #nchat, #narcolepsyfamily and more, narcoleptics around the world were communicating with each other around the clock. The most regular narcolepsy tweeters were millennials like me, coping with the disease while also trying to delay adulthood. My Twitter friends directed me to a private Facebook group with an even larger network of patients, of all ages. Together on these platforms we share advice, rants, inspiration, jokes and even form campaigns to spread awareness and fight stigma.
Of course, support groups are not a new concept. But unlike a weekly meeting at your local middle school gymnasium, social media spaces represent what futurists will tell you are core values of Generation Y: collaboration, convenience and customization. It is precisely the combination of these three features that makes social networking platforms especially fitting for chronic illness communities (of all ages).
1. Collaboration.
Online support groups, in the form of discussion boards, have been around since the dark ages of the internet. However, the architecture of these sites does not support the collaborative features that have evolved in true social networking platforms. Now support groups are thriving on both mainstream platforms like Facebook and specialized platforms such as PatientsLikeMe, DailyStrength, and HealthCheckins. These sites provide templates for support groups, but patient communities together determine the dynamics and norms through collaborative mechanisms of filtering and feedback (i.e., tagging, voting/”liking”, rating, bookmarking, commenting). Patient communities can thus take charge in continually adapting and updating these spaces to best serve their needs.
2. Convenience.
Social networking platforms provide time-space freedom, allowing users to decide when and where they interact. Many platforms feature both real-time communication (status update feeds, chatrooms, instant messaging) and asynchronous communication (discussion threads, individual blogs, email). Most sites are accessible both via computer and mobile devices. Such flexibility is especially vital for patients with limited mobility, intensive treatment schedules, rarer conditions with a small number of patients in different locations and time zones, or in my case, a tendency to sleep through appointments.
3. Customization.
Users are given much of the power in determining their participation in online social networks. Patients decide which other users they wish to follow or “friend”, giving them control over the information that they see in their feeds. It is up to the patient to decide how much information to share with community members, if at all. Patients can communicate in private one-on-one conversations with other patients, in subgroups (chatrooms, group messages), or post content visible to the whole community (user profiles, status updates, board or “wall” posts). Most platforms offer a range of privacy control options, with many allowing completely anonymous participation. This is important for chronic illness patients who often feel stigmatized or are concerned about protecting their health information from their wider social networks or employers.
While there is little risk in seeking comfort and motivation from online communities, there is some concern about patients relying on these sites for medical information. Because social media content is user-generated, the quality, validity and authenticity of information can be inconsistent. Dr. Sean Young of the UCLA Center for Digital Behavior has issued recommendations on how health providers can help curb this problem by participating in online communities and providing content and links with accurate health information.
Considering the ubiquity and constant evolution of social networking platforms, it’s safe to assume these technologies hold much promise for the well-being of chronic illness patients of every race, gender, creed and, yes, generation.
How Visuals Can Help Deaf Children 'Hear' (STUDY)
By: John Varrasi, American Society of Mechanical Engineers
Published: 07/28/2014 02:24 PM EDT on LiveScience
John Varrasi is a senior staff writer for the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). He contributed this article to Live Science’s Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.
The Cooper Union in New York City is combining engineering and acoustics to create a unique learning environment for deaf and hearing-impaired schoolchildren. The college has installed an interactive light studio at the American Sign Language and English Lower School in New York City. The studio, comprising a 270-square-foot space, is equipped with a wall-mounted digital-projection system that works in conjunction with specially designed computer programs to display entertaining images and graphics on an interactive screen. The pre-kindergarten children using Cooper Union’s interactive light studio learn through their interactions with the moving images and light pulses — the displays enable the kids to actually understand the intricacies of sound, despite their hearing impairments.
“We are creating a learning environment in which deaf and hearing-impaired children can explore and appreciate the various qualities of music and sound through the interplay of light and vibration,” said Melody Baglione, a professor at The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, who advised and mentored seven students on design aspects of the interactive light studio. “We have developed technologies enabling the children to visualize sound.” [Science As Art: Soundscapes, Light Boxes and Microscopes (Op-Ed )]
Interactive projector system
At the core of the interactive light studio is a series of computer programs specially designed to inspire curiosity and fun among the children. One of the programs is a virtual fish tank, in which images of fish follow and respond to the movements of children in front of the screen. Baglione’s students wrote the program, which incorporates an Xbox Kinect sensor along with the em>Open Frameworks programming language to detect the contours of the moving children.
The second program uses sound from a microphone, musical instrument or prerecorded song as inputs. When a child stands in front of a target, a component of a digitized song — such as the keyboards, percussion or vocals — plays. When all of the targets are triggered, the full song plays. In this way, the children can create their own music composition by moving their bodies.
“Both hearing-impaired and deaf children can participate in creating sound inputs and visually seeing the responses,” said Baglione, who along with her students used a grant from The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) to launch the studio. “By creating discrete visual responses to different frequencies and sound levels, the children begin to understand sound and music in quantifiable terms.”
Sound to light, talking flowers
In another program, Cooper Union students adapted a wall with images of “talking sunflowers” that transform sound to light. The flowers have embedded microphones that trigger different colored lights, depending on the frequencies of the sound in the room.
After exploring several options for converting audio input to visual input, Cooper Union students selected the “colorganic spectralizer,” a type of spectrum analyzer equipped with a microphone and able to operate on standard AA batteries. The Cooper Union students installed seven colorganic spectralizers, modifying each with surface-mount soldering to accommodate five-volt capability that brightens the LED lights. The main benefit of the devices, according to Baglione, is the full interactivity the analyzer provides for the children.
“Deaf and hearing-impaired students, in particular, benefit from the design of a sound-to-light installation employing microphones to provide visual feedback,” says Baglione.
Electronic fireflies
One wall in the studio incorporates an interactive, electronic simulation of fireflies that the schoolchildren can move around while observing pulses of light. Each of the fireflies is a self-contained circuit board that synchronizes its flashing with other fireflies in the immediate vicinity, a mode of nonverbal communication enabled via infrared sensors and other electronics. When the flash of a neighboring firefly is detected, the voltage across a capacitor experiences a sudden impulse, advancing the firefly’s charging cycle closer to its neighbor’s. In interacting with the electronic fireflies on the wall, the children are engrossed in play, arranging and rearranging the fireflies according to the patterns of flashing lights.
“Interacting with the fireflies entertains the children and teaches the kids about the emergence of visually intriguing patterns and rhythms,” said Baglione. “The program encourages the children to move and investigate cause and effect.”
Students at The Cooper Union built more than 60 circuits, and introduced children’s books relating to the subject, which enabled teachers to incorporate lessons.
Inspiration
The Cooper Union’s interactive light studio enables deaf and hearing-impaired children to experience sound in unique ways and to overcome the limits of physical disabilities. But the studio brings other tangible benefits, according to Baglione — it enables the children to experience and appreciate the wonder of science and engineering, possibly inspiring future career pathways in the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM ).
“The strong STEM component in the interactive light studio rendered the project suitable for funding under the ASME Diversity Action Grant program,” said Tatyana Polyak, director of Student and Early Career Programs at ASME.
The studio also had a direct positive impact on the student designers at The Cooper Union.
“The interactive light studio demonstrates the role of technological innovation in helping disabled persons,” said Baglione. “The project offered undergraduate engineering students an opportunity to improve their technical and professional skills and develop a broader appreciation of the contribution of engineers in improving society.”
Author’s Note: Melody Baglione and most members of the design team on the interactive light studio are members of The American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
Follow all of the Expert Voices issues and debates — and become part of the discussion — on Facebook, Twitter and Google +. The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher. This version of the article was originally published on Live Science.
Smelling Storms? Human Supersenses May Become a Reality
Is Red Warmer Than Blue? What Colours Can Tell You (Op-Ed)
Your Color Red Really Could Be My Blue
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Harry Reid Says He Has The FCC's Back On Net Neutrality
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said he’ll defend the Federal Communications Commission against congressional Republicans if it decides to support net neutrality with new regulations requiring Internet providers to treat all data equally.
“Let me be clear: I support net neutrality,” Reid wrote in a letter Monday to progressive online groups. “I will lead the fight to protect any Open Internet rules promulgated by the FCC against the inevitable Republican attack against such rules.”
Groups that include Daily Kos, Credo, MoveOn, Color of Change, and Demand Progress had asked Reid to speak out on net neutrality, noting that unlike House Minority Leader Pelosi (D-Calif.), he had held his silence since the FCC revealed a preliminary plan in April.
That plan, which FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler seems inclined to approve, may allow broadband companies to charge extra for fast Internet access. Progressives are still working to change Wheeler’s mind in favor of regulation.
Progressives want the FCC to reclassify broadband companies as public utilities, forcing them to treat every website equally. Republican leaders have promised to fight that step in Congress.
Reid did not take an outright position on reclassifying broadband companies. But he did affirm that if the FCC decides that declaring the companies utilities is the best path, he will support it. Cable companies are major donors to Reid’s campaign, but the letter suggests he is willing to cautiously buck them on an issue near and dear to online organizers.
Those organizers turned out big during the recent FCC comment period on various net neutrality proposals, contributing many of the more than 1 million comments that flooded the comission. A second comment period will end on Sept. 10.
David Segal, executive director of Demand Progress, said in a statement that Reid’s letter “makes it clear that the Senate Democrats will defend” the FCC, even if it decides to reclassify cable companies as utilities under Title II of the Communications Act of 1934.
“The FCC can no longer lean on vague political concerns as an excuse pass its ‘slow lanes’ proposal,” Segal said. “This rule must be made on the policy merits, and Title II is the only option that protects the Internet.”
Martha Stewart: Why I Love My Drone
Because it’s a useful tool. And that’s a good thing.
Which One Of These Paintings Is Smaller Than A Poppy Seed?
One of these images is smaller than a period at the end of a sentence; the other is a masterpiece by Claude Monet. You might be hard-pressed to spot the difference, because researchers at Singapore’s Institute of Materials Research and Engineering have developed a new technique to produce microscopic art that looks just like the real thing.
The team of researchers created the microscopic replication (the image pictured on the right), using an ink-free printing technique that involves a nanostructure of aluminum pillars.
So where do the colors come from?
The researchers focused beams of electrons on top of the metal pillars, causing the aluminum to resonate at different frequencies and give out varying colors depending on the size of the pillar. The researchers were able to build a palette of 300 colors, broadening their options for artistic expression, by differing the distances between each pillar and then transferring the color pixels onto a silicon substrate, according to NanoWerk, a nanotechnology news site.
“Each color pixel on this image was mapped to the closest color from a palette that we created using arrays of metal nanodisks, and the code spits out a series of geometries corresponding to this color,” Joel K.W. Yang, an assistant professor at Singapore’s University of Technology and Design told Wired. “A single drop of dye from a typical printer would already be about the size of the entire print made with our technology.”
Art is just the first step. Eventually, Yang and his team — who published their paper on aluminum nanostructure printing in the June 13 online edition of Nano Letters — hope to apply the technology to security and counterfeiting applications and potentially even holography one day, according to NanoWerk.
To see more examples of nanotech art, check out “The Art of Nanotech” interactive slideshow on PBS.
Thanks for reading our digest. Opinions in the articles above are those of the authors and not necessarily those of Digital Workshed ltd.