The Snarchitect | Technology meets creativity meets culture. And snarky commentary to make it all taste great.

AutoCAD wants to do Biological Design

Posted on January 28, 2015 by Rick

AutoCAD changed the world with software driven mechanical design. Now they seek to do the same thing with biological life.

Enter Project Cyborg, an exciting new undertaking aimed at expanding on the limited tools available to synthetic biologists in their attempt to reliably design, engineer, and test living “programmable matter” all without having to physically make those living things first. Carlos is particularly excited about the field of synthetic biology because he believes that “biology not only gives us the opportunity, from a manufacturing standpoint, to reinvent the world around us, it also presents the opportunity to reinvent the world within us as well.” Engineered microorganisms can manufacture all sorts of useful chemicals from beer to insulin, but beyond producing products utilizing biological systems like CRISPR also promises the possibility of curing diseases like HIV/AIDS and possibly in the future augmenting human capabilities through direct genome manipulation.

synbiobeta.com

IoT needs human intelligence

Posted on January 28, 2015 by Rick

Why the biggest value of the IoT comes from combining it with human intelligence.

Lately we’ve been hearing a lot about smart things connecting with other smart things to solve problems in novel ways. But we hear much less about where and how human intelligence fits into the mix.
How do clever people naturally interact with and think about things, whether those things are connected or not? Below, I consider this question for high-end knowledge work, illustrating the way humans naturally think by moving back and forth between two scenes – one that features the Internet of Things (IoT) and one that doesn’t. Using experimental research and actual IoT technologies, I’ll begin to make a case for why and how the IoT should leverage — rather than ignore or interfere with — our natural patterns of thought.

hbr.org

Fashion and tech meet and make smart clothes

Posted on January 28, 2015 by Rick

From Europe, fashion and technology are merging into smart clothes.

There is a whole industry dealing with the so-called intelligent textile products. “In the last 10 to 15 years, there were many EU supported research projects on smart textiles but maybe they came too early,” says Christian Stammel, CEO of Wearable Technologies, a technology company developing intelligent products like watches, glasses, wristbands or accessories, based in Herrsching am Ammersee, Germany. Today, we have the smartphone with a strong computing power and the capability to connect different devices to the cloud. “That’s why the topic of smart textiles and smart clothes has become more important now.”
Another expert agrees. “Fashion makers always look for the latest new things they can use and science always tries to push the latest new innovations. That is why they work hand-in-hand and they will do so in the future,“ says Dan Plant, a research fellow at Imperial College, who graduated from the joint Imperial/Royal College of Art Innovation Design Engineering program in London, UK. He has engineered a new material, patented as Armourgel, an energy absorbing technology used in the production of protective sports apparel for cyclists, snowboarders and motorcyclists.

www.euroscientist.com

Nordstrom digital strategy

Posted on January 28, 2015 by Rick

Why Nordstrom’s digital strategy is working, and many other retailers are struggling.

The persistent digitization of Nordstrom’s business has allowed the company to grow revenues by more than 50% in the last five years. The company is growing sales in both full-price and off-price businesses through both online and traditional channels.
Nordstrom’s digital capabilities make complete sense for Nordstrom. What makes them important is that they are tightly integrated with all the parts of the business that ultimately serve the customer. This is not a matter of having the best apps, analytics, or social media tools. Instead, it’s a matter of tending to the details of building integrated digital capabilities, one at a time, making the right data accessible, and simplifying processes. Most retailers will struggle to do this because they haven’t architected their product or customer data for easy access by the new digital capabilities. Without those core capabilities, integration with and among new digital capabilities is virtually impossible.

hbr.org

Successful businesses are data driven

Posted on January 28, 2015 by Rick

In the new era of data and analytics, the most data driven companies are also some of the most successful.

Take, for example, General Electric, which has already turned itself into a math house. It has assembled a staff in Silicon Valley to provide customers with advanced analytics that do such things as predict when equipment maintenance is due. As of the middle of last year, this quintessential industrial company had about two-thirds of its $250 billion backlog in orders from services based on its mathematical intellectual property.
Machine-to-machine communication and learning also help managers increase their capability and capacity and the speed of their decisions. The potential uses have barely been scratched, and the growth opportunities of this bend in the road can be immense for those who seize them.
The companies that have the new mathematical capabilities possess a huge advantage over those that don’t. Google, Facebook, and Amazon were created as mathematical corporations. Apple became a math corporation after Steve Jobs returned as CEO. This trend will accelerate. Legacy companies that can’t make the shift will be vulnerable to digitally minded competitors.

fortune.com

That sweet sound your car, truck, or bike makes might just be a scam

Posted on January 28, 2015 by Rick

The Internet of Noisy Things. That car, truck, or bike might not sound as hot as you think it does.

Stomp on the gas in a new Ford Mustang or F-150 and you’ll hear a meaty, throaty rumble — the same style of roar that Americans have associated with auto power and performance for decades.
It’s a sham. The engine growl in some of America’s best-selling cars and trucks is actually a finely tuned bit of lip-syncing, boosted through special pipes or digitally faked altogether. And it’s driving car enthusiasts insane.
Fake engine noise has become one of the auto industry’s dirty little secrets, with automakers from BMW to Volkswagen turning to a sound-boosting bag of tricks. Without them, today’s more fuel-efficient engines would sound far quieter and, automakers worry, seemingly less powerful, potentially pushing buyers away.

www.washingtonpost.com
http://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_1484w/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2015/01/13/Business/Images/US_15F150_hero1421187070.jpg?uuid=FSTepJtxEeSGoxtW9kkl9g

“The Internet will disappear”

Posted on January 28, 2015 by Rick

At Davos, Google Chairman Eric Schmidt predicted the end of the Internet, but that’s not what you think.

At the end of a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where his comments were webcast, he was asked for his prediction on the future of the web. “I will answer very simply that the Internet will disappear,” Schmidt said.
“There will be so many IP addresses…so many devices, sensors, things that you are wearing, things that you are interacting with that you won’t even sense it,” he explained. “It will be part of your presence all the time. Imagine you walk into a room, and the room is dynamic. And with your permission and all of that, you are interacting with the things going on in the room.”
Concluded Schmidt: “A highly personalized, highly interactive and very, very interesting world emerges.”

www.hollywoodreporter.com

The flying jumbotron

Posted on January 28, 2015 by Rick

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, wait, it’s a flying billboard.

Boeing last week won a new patent for technologies that would add giant digital displays onto wings, fuselages and tails — and even upturned winglets on future jets.
The basic idea is that the display areas would contain digital imaging equipment, covered with a transparent layer, and heated or cooled from beneath as needed.
You might think of this as turning Boeing (NYSE: BA) aircraft into flying Jumbotrons, the massive video screens that send out messages during athletic events, like the upcoming Super Bowl on Feb. 1.

www.bizjournals.com
http://media.bizj.us/view/img/4899221/boeing-graphics-patent*304xx849-567-0-45.png

Posted on January 28, 2015 by Rick

Ford is not actually an automotive manufacturer any more. They are a big data and mobility company.

Ford Motor Co. wants to improve its Big Data and analytics capabilities. That’s one of the reasons the company has decided to expand its presence in Silicon Valley, according to executives at the opening of its Research and Innovation Center, Thursday.
“One of our strategies as a company is we’re thinking of ourselves not just as an automotive company, but we’re also thinking of ourselves as a mobility company,” said Mark Fields, president and CEO, during a media event here.
The automaker plans to hire 125 professionals including researchers, software engineers and data scientists by the end of 2015. Aside from Big Data, Ford will focus on research and development of autonomous vehicle and mobile technology. The company wants to improve speech recognition for in-vehicle use. Ford is also working with Nest, part of Google Inc., on the ability for its vehicles to communicate with home thermostats so a person’s heat might be automatically lowered as he or she drives away from the house. Nest is also skilled at data analytics.
Ford joins rivals Nissan Motor Co., Volkswagen AG, Honda Motor Co. and other major carmakers in establishing a larger presence in Silicon Valley, a source for tech talent and ideas that have managed to become both the bane and the inspiration for today’s auto industry. The new 25,000-square-foot facility will be located not far from the headquarters of Google Inc., ground zero for autonomous driving, as well as electric-car maker Tesla Motors Inc.

blogs.wsj.com

We’re no UPS!

Posted on January 28, 2015 by Rick

FedEx: “We’re no UPS!” Stock market: “Meh”

The competing package-delivery company issued a succinct statement meant to reassure investors: We’re sticking with our forecast for 2015 profit. FedEx Corp.’s (FDX) per-share earnings will be $8.50 to $9 this year, same as the company said before. That assumes moderate economic growth and a modest benefit from falling fuel prices.
The message was clear. FedEx wants to avoid being compared with United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS), which suffered after spending a fortune to ensure that packages get delivered on time during the year-end peak-demand season. Sure, UPS avoided the delays that marred the 2013 holiday. Even so, margins were crimped by all those increased expenses for a system that wasn’t fully utilized some days.
FedEx is different from UPS in key ways. It has a smaller domestic network than Atlanta-based UPS. It’s more focused on international markets, where air freight shipments have strengthened recently. FedEx also didn’t undertake as costly a network overhaul as UPS. Even if Memphis, Tennessee-based FedEx had its own cost overruns, the impact was blunted.
FedEx’s statement failed to reverse the slide in its shares, which slipped as much as 2.8 percent today.