August 31, 2009 • 8:45 am
Since top universities like MIT and Berkeley have integrated Open Source into their learning programs, even making some courses available for free, the debate continues as to the necessity, value and effectiveness of open source software on non-commercial applications.
But just like Linux revolutionizing the OS market, open source software can bring about a transformative impact on the way knowledge is shared, developed and nurtured in any academic setting. The benefits the new technology can bring ranges from reduction of school’s administrative costs to enhanced electronic interaction between teacher and students.
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Filed under: Information, Innovation, Networks , Academic Innovation, Knowledge Sharing, MIT, Open Source
August 30, 2009 • 8:06 am
Crispin Porter + Bogusky’s always rattling the ad-industry’s cage–whether through disturbing ads for Burger King, or roundly lambasted ads for Microsoft. But recently, they just lost the Volkswagen account–one of their marquees–while Burger King franchisees are blaming Crispin for flagging sales. And their latest experiment may have overstepped the line with designers, who usually pay them a grudging respect.
To create a logo for the electric motorcycle start-up Brammo, they’re crowdsourcing the design, for a reward of $1000. The winner will be announced in six days, and over 700 people have submitted work. But no matter: To many professional designers, so-called “spec” assignments–that is, exploratory work, done for free–is taboo. Many designers think it undercuts them, and denigrates the profession. Designis.ms was among the aggrieved, and they’ve started a Twitter campaign (#nospec) against Crispin.
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Filed under: Crowdsourcing, Innovation, Marketing , Advertising, Clients, Crowdsourcing, Design, Marketing
August 25, 2009 • 8:45 am
Researchers from Carnegie Mellon, MIT and the networking company Akamai suggests companies that run large data centers can potentially save millions by utilizing an Internet-routing algorithm that moves data where electricity costs are lowest at a particular time. Based on their findings, when considering the cost of rerouting information is compared from possible savings from lower energy costs, experts found that companies can cut 40% of their energy consumption.
There are still concerns in the actual reduced energy consumption and emission that energy-routing systems can bring. According to Jonathan Koomey, a Lawrence Berkeley National Scientist, “”The trick is to be able to control these systems well enough and to create controls that are cheap enough to be able to take advantage of the arbitrage opportunity available from differential electricity prices, without affecting reliability or latency”.
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Filed under: Innovation, Networks , Data Centers, Energy Reduction, Internet Technology
August 12, 2009 • 6:50 pm
An organism that contributes to global warming, can also be used to make carbon-neutral fuels. This is why large companies like Exxon Mobil have invested $600 million over the next six years, on the development of algae-based biofuels. Algae is the main source of fossil fuels used in the industrial world today.
Algal biofuel companies are closing multi-million dollar contracts with the US government, who are committing almost $800 million in funding for advanced research on biofuels. Although each company has its own process of extracting biofuels from algae, issues on the efficiency and earth friendliness remains.
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Filed under: Innovation, Science , Climate Change Solutions, Energy Alternatives, Innovation, Science, Sustainability
Automotive New reports:
BMW will launch a new class of environmentally friendly vehicles under its own brand, signaling that even premium automakers are ready to embrace electric vehicles as a mainstream product.
Without new concepts and technologies, certain carmakers “may no longer be in the market” soon after the advent of a raft of tax penalties and incentives designed to force the auto industry to go green, CEO Norbert Reithofer said.
BMW’s board decided to create a new sub-brand — similar to its “M” label for its high-performance cars — to label a new range of sustainable vehicles, Reithofer said on a conference call on Tuesday.
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Filed under: Automotive, Innovation, Marketing , Automotive, Cars, Clients, Energy, Innovation
August 1, 2009 • 10:12 am
Rental companies often need to move cars from a to b and it’s safe to say that universally, people like free “anything”. This is where Transfercar steps in. The New Zealand company works with the car rental industry, posting lists of cars which they need transporting from a to b. Drivers can either check the website for availability, or enter preferential journeys and be notified by text when cars become available.
Although all journeys begin and end at a rental company’s specified location, the lure of free rental, often with free insurance, free ferry and sometimes even free fuel is enough to attract money savvy travelers to venture slightly off their planned routes.
The idea was born when Espen, one of the founders was working part time at Ace Rentals. He began to notice a trend in large amounts of money being spent on relocation of cars from one branch to another.
Transfercar are currently in the process of raising capital to expand their operation in Australia and the USA. Let’s hope they’re successful.
Check out their site
Filed under: Innovation, Marketing , Automotive, Consumers, ideas, Innovation, Lifestyle, Rental Car, Travel
With major advertisers cutting costs, creative shops are increasingly commercializing their own product ideas.
When Coca-Cola acquired Vitaminwater for $4.1 billion in 2007, it wasn’t for the breakthrough electrolyte-drink technology. It paid for breakthrough marketing, and that epiphany rippled through Adland. Why shouldn’t agencies launch their own brands rather than solely focus on other people’s prodcts? Consultancy PSFK recently invited FAST COMPANY writer Danielle Sacks to moderate a panel featuring four creative chiefs running what PSFK calls New Idea Agencies. In this edited transcript of the conversation, they explore what it’s like for ad people to go beyond branding into the messy world of product creation. Will what they learn improve advertising for the rest of us?
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Filed under: Innovation, Marketing , Advertising, Clients, Consumers, Design, ideas, Innovation, Marketing
Think Major League Baseball’s stats and live video iPhone app is cool? Imagine what Apple could do with technology it was granted a patent for this week: a network of sensors that deliver real-time velocity, impact, rotation and other data from sporting event participants to the web. Imagine your iPhone’s accelerometer placed inside a boxer’s glove, a snowboarder’s snow suit or a NASCAR driver’s car – with the information captured delivered to your iPhone or Apple TV while you watch the competition either in person or remotely.
Would you pay a premium for an event ticket that includes real time stats like that delivered to your iPhone? I would. Of course Apple is granted all kinds of patents all the time and only some of them amount to anything – but this one is very cool.
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Filed under: Innovation, Science , Design, Future, Gadgets, ideas, Innovation, iphone, Mobile, Technology
A new way of printing organic electronics is more reliable and yields higher performance.
It’s possible to print large, flexible arrays of cheap, plastic transistors to drive displays. But the performance of these organic electronics is still not consistent enough for commercial devices.
A new method for printing a wide variety of semiconducting organic compounds such as polymers is much more reliable–and on top of that, it improves the performance of a wide variety of these materials by a few orders of magnitude.
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Filed under: Innovation, Science , Energy, Gadgets, Innovation, Science, Technology
First Sharp announced the development of the world’s first waterproof solar-powered cell phone, and now the company has done the world one better by developing the thinnest solar module for mobile devices ever. The LROCGO2 Solar Module measures just 0.8 mm thick–the width of eight human hairs.
The Solar Module’s polycrystalline solar cells only provides 300 mW of power, so the device won’t replace traditional batteries any time soon. But it can act as a supplement for emergency situations or any time when a traditional cell phone charger is MIA. And since the module is fitted onto cell phones in the manufacturing process,it eliminates the need to carry around extra emergency solar chargers.
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Filed under: Innovation, Science , Design, Energy, Innovation, iphone, Research, Science, Technology
