Tag Archives: Technology

Bring your own service: Employees want social tools at work, despite company restrictions and hesitation, reports new Microsoft survey

By Guest PostMay 28, 2013Culture, Technologyaltimeter group, analyst, asia-pacific, at work, better teamwork, charlene li, chris laping, employees, Europe, global survey, global workplace, infographic, information workers, ipsos, kurt delbene, latin america, microsoft corp., microsoft office division, microsoft survey, organizational policy, productivity loss, red robin, research firm, security concerns, social media, social tools, Technology, Twitter, water cooler, workplace, worldwide, yammer

Global survey across 32 countries shows worker appetite for social tools is increasing, even if it means spending their own money and defying organizational policy to use the technology.

REDMOND, Wash. — May 27, 2013 — Nearly half of employees report that social tools at work help increase their productivity, but more than 30 percent of companies underestimate the value of these tools and often restrict their use, according to new Microsoft research released today.

The survey, conducted for Microsoft Corp. by research firm Ipsos among 9,908 information workers in 32 countries, also found that 39 percent of employees feel there isn’t enough collaboration in their workplaces, and 40 percent believe social tools help foster better teamwork. More surprisingly, 31 percent said they are willing to spend their own money to buy social tools. (more…)

Ways Google Glass Would Be Great for Gaming

By Guest PostMay 27, 2013Technologyboard game, education, first person shooting, fps, freelance writer, gaming industry, genres of gaming, google glass, marcela de vivo, medicine, multiplayer system, puzzle, role playing, rpgs, smartphone, social media, southern california, Technology, trivia, virtual gaming world

Many are speculating the possibilities for the new Google Glass – a wearable computer that displays a screen in front of your eye that you can control by voice command – in industries, such as medicine and education.

One industry in particular that has people excited about the possibilities for using the device is the gaming industry. The Google glass can take gaming to a completely different level in all genres of gaming.

Multiplayer system, role-playing (RPGs) and first-person shooting (FPS) games could potentially be more efficient to play and participate in. The glass right in front of your eye places you in the hub of the action, allowing players to nearly be face-to-face and eye-to-eye with the opponents in their games. What’s more, there is the potential of better accuracy when shooting, with the glass serving as your pinpoint target. (more…)

PatternBuilders brings big data analytics down to size

By Guest PostMay 23, 2013Technologyanalyticspbi, big data analytics, data technology experts, iaas, mary ludloff, microsoft bizspark startup, mongodb, mongolab, next generation, paas, patternbuilders, Technology, terence craig, virtual networks, windows azure

Microsoft BizSpark startup makes next-generation big data analytics solutions accessible to enterprises of all sizes.

REDMOND, Wash. — May 23, 2013 — Data technology experts and startup veterans Terence Craig and Mary Ludloff founded PatternBuilders with a singular vision: to make it practical and easy for enterprises everywhere to harness big data and make better, faster decisions — without hiring a team of experts.

“We found it disconcerting that there was such a huge divide between big data excitement and actual adoption rates,” said Craig, CEO and chief technology officer at PatternBuilders. “Taking advantage of big data analytics often requires a budget, toolset and in-house expertise far beyond what most enterprises can muster. Mary and I founded PatternBuilders because we thought there must be a better approach.” (more…)

Injectable Nano-Network Controls Blood Sugar in Diabetics for Days at a Time

By Guest PostMay 20, 2013Sciencealginate, blood sugar, blood sugar levels, bloodstream, chitosan, closed loop system, daniel anderson, dextran, diabetes patients, diabetes treatment, gluconic acid, glucose, glucose oxidase enzymes, hormone, injectable nano network, injection, insulin, massachusetts institute, material, nanoparticle cores, nanoscale particles, network, north Carolina, robert langer, seaweed, shrimp shells, state university, Technology, type 1 diabetes, unc chapel, zhen gu

In a promising development for diabetes treatment, researchers have developed a network of nanoscale particles that can be injected into the body and release insulin when blood-sugar levels rise, maintaining normal blood sugar levels for more than a week in animal-based laboratory tests. The work was done by researchers at North Carolina State University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Children’s Hospital Boston.

“We’ve created a ‘smart’ system that is injected into the body and responds to changes in blood sugar by releasing insulin, effectively controlling blood-sugar levels,” says Dr. Zhen Gu, lead author of a paper describing the work and an assistant professor in the joint biomedical engineering program at NC State and UNC Chapel Hill. “We’ve tested the technology in mice, and one injection was able to maintain blood sugar levels in the normal range for up to 10 days.” (more…)

Building the intelligent car of the future

By Guest PostMay 7, 2013Technologyauto pc, automotive industry, babe ruth, california, carmakers, clarion, data, david kelley, david walker, death valley, duke ellington, Environment, environmental conditions, future, intelligent car, jay loney, john hendricks, melissa quintanilha, Microsoft, microsoft tbox, model, northern sweden, pranish kumar, promised land, Technology, windows embedded automotive, windows update

Microsoft: Working with automotive industry to design an updateable car that’s easier to use and responds to the driver’s needs.

Microsoft’s Pranish Kumar and his team work to develop reliable in-car experiences, not by sitting at a desk but by working behind the wheel of a fleet of test vehicles. (more…)

IBM Unveils New Technology to Connect a Smarter Planet

By Guest PostApril 29, 2013Technologyapple, big data, bob s johnson, cleveland, cloud based apps, connect, ibm, ibm messagesight, ibm mobilefirst, idc, m2m, machine to machine, marie wieck, message, mobile, mobile environments, mobilefirst strategy, mqtt, network bandwidth, new data, new technology, ohio, passbook, queuing telemetry transport, smarter planet, Technology, urbancode, websphere, world wide web

New Appliance, Software and Services Extend the IBM MobileFirst Strategy

LAS VEGAS – 29 Apr 2013: IBM’s Smarter Planet strategy took a major technological step forward today with the introduction of IBM MessageSight, a new appliance designed to help organizations manage and communicate with the billions of mobile devices and sensors found in systems such as automobiles, traffic management systems, smart buildings and household appliances.

Over the next 15 years, the number of machines and sensors connected to the Internet will explode. According to IMS Research, there will be more than 22 billion web-connected devices by 2020[i].These new devices will generate more than 2.5 quintillion bytes of new data every day[ii], while every hour enough information is consumed by Internet traffic to fill seven million DVDs.[iii] (more…)

Bugs produce diesel on demand

By Guest PostApril 27, 2013Environmentbiofuel, bugs produce diesel, carbon dioxide emissions, cell membranes, diesel fuel, drop ins, e coli bacteria, global oil price, global requirement, oil molecules, professor john love, rob lee, shell, shell research ltd, synthetic fuel, Technology, transport fuel, university of exeter

It sounds like science fiction but a team from the University of Exeter, with support from Shell, has developed a method to make bacteria produce diesel on demand.

While the technology still faces many significant commercialisation challenges, the diesel, produced by special strains of E. coli bacteria, is almost identical to conventional diesel fuel.

This means that it does not need to be blended with petroleum products as is often required by biodiesels derived from plant oils. It also means that the diesel can be used with current supplies in existing infrastructure because engines, pipelines and tankers do not need to be modified. Biofuels with these characteristics are being termed ‘drop-ins’. (more…)

Tenfold boost in ability to pinpoint proteins in cancer cells

By Guest PostMarch 23, 2013Healthantibodies, array of colors, biology, biomarkers, cancerous, cell behavior, cell function, characteristics, color coding cells, color fluorescence, cyclical testing, diagnosis, fluorescent balls, low ph fluid, molecular level, oncology, pathology, patterns, pavel zrazhevskiy, quantum dots, semiconductor material, single cell, Technology, tissue biopsies, treatment of cancer, university of washington, xiaohu gao

Better diagnosis and treatment of cancer could hinge on the ability to better understand a single cell at its molecular level. New research offers a more comprehensive way of analyzing one cell’s unique behavior, using an array of colors to show patterns that could indicate why a cell will or won’t become cancerous.

A University of Washington team has developed a new method for color-coding cells that allows them to illuminate 100 biomarkers, a ten-time increase from the current research standard, to help analyze individual cells from cultures or tissue biopsies. The work is published this week (March 19) in Nature Communications. (more…)