[Philip Lelyveld comment: I'm researching the use of digital media to support an active social life as we age (boomers and their parents)]
The American Advertising Federation Central Regional Conference was terrific last month. I presented there about the economic strength of baby Boomers and their behavior online and began with this statement: if you are a marketing or media executive and you don’t know that Boomers hold 70% of the U.S. wealth and Boomer women make or influence 80% of household purchase decisions – then you should be looking for a new job. ...
Baby Boomer Transitions
From ages 45 to 65, individuals experience more life transitions than at any other time in their lives. This means opportunity for brands and marketers to engage Boomers and build their brand promise in Boomers’ hearts and minds. ...
It's all too easy to tweak ourselves online. Changing to become closer to the way we wish others perceived us, only the most flattering pictures, falsely modest statuses and painstakingly crafted tweets make the cut. Although we may not mean to, we end up crafting a fictitious persona in the process. James Alliban and Keiichi Matsuda capture the bizarre translation from physical to digital self with their installation piece 'Cell.'
Using 4 Xbox Kinects, the work tracks viewers as they enter a room, projecting a cloud of descriptive identifiers on a virtual mirror that follows their movements. The descriptors were collected through the data mining of various social networking and online dating websites, projecting identifiers such as 'atheist', 'hipster' and 'meat-eater.' There are also other interests and states like 'ghostbusters', 'tattoo' and 'unnaturally high tolerance for alcohol.' The online tags form data clouds of fabricated personas which adhere to the viewers' movements and grow over time.
Video game players from around the world recently solved a puzzle that baffled scientists for more than fifteen years — and they did it in less than 10 days.
Using an online game developed by researchers at the University of Washington called Foldit , a team of 35 citizen-scientists dubbed "The Contenders" collaborated to decipher the molecular structure of an enzyme that is responsible for the spread of AIDS in rhesus monkeys. This discovery provides important information that will help medical researchers design retroviral drugs to stop the AIDS virus in its tracks.
In order for medical researchers to develop drugs such as these that can tackle an enzyme, a type of complex protein that catalyzes specific biochemical reactions in the body, they must first understand the enzyme's structure. However, with the millions of possible configurations of an enzyme's atoms and bonds, this task can take years and often stumps even the world's most accomplished scientists.
The University of Washington team saw an opportunity to capitalize on the enthusiasm surrounding collaborative game play to create a human "supercomputer" that could uncover these protein structures more quickly. Foldit enlists the help of gamers worldwide and challenges players to fold virtual protein molecules into different formations to obtain the highest-scoring, or lowest-energy, models. The monkey-virus puzzle is just one of several scientific mysteries on Foldit.
This most recent discovery highlights the power of Foldit and other science-oriented video games to channel human intuition to solve a wide range of scientific challenges. You can tap into your own puzzle-solving skills and help advance scientific research by playing Foldit at http://fold.it/portal/puzzles.
Digimarc, based in Beaverton, Oregon, has combined these functions into Discover, a single app designed to identify input from a person's environment and pull up related information.
... Discover uses a smart phone's camera and microphone to "capture" a sample of audio or an image, then identifies it through Digimarc's own database and searches for related material online.
For MBAs seeking a career in the world of technology, the true test of their carefully constructed business plans can often come down to a six-minute performance on stage in Silicon Valley and San Francisco in September. ...
There are American Idol-style VC judges giving their opinions and asking questions, but unfortunately no system of shutting up and counting out the lamest ideas. ...
See the full story describing some of the pitches here.
Augmented reality is one of the most exciting technologies around. If you have watched some of those modern Hollywood movies, you have probably seen how our world would look like 20-30 years from now. Who knows when augmented applications become mainstream but they are already making their way to the iPhone platform. Augmented reality is the future but thanks to these augmented reality apps for iPhone, you can experience the future today:
A miniature airborne drone has helped archaeologists capture images for creating a 3-D model of an ancient burial mound inRussia, scientists say. ...
The machine tested in a remote area in Russia called Tuekta was a four-propeller "quadrocopter": the battery-powered Microdrone md4-200. The fact it is small -- the axis of its rotors is about 27 inches (70 cm) -- and weighs about 35 ounces (1,000 grams) made it easy to transport, and researchers said it was very easy to fly, stabilizing itself constantly and keeping at a given height and position unless ordered to do otherwise. ...
Tuekta is in the Altai Mountains where Russia, China, Kazakhstan and Mongolia come together. Researchers there have discovered burial mounds 2,300 to 2,800 years old and up to 250 feet (76 meters) wide.
These burial mounds, called "kurgans," probably belonged to chiefs or princes among the Scythians, a nomadic people known for their horsemanship, who once had a rich, powerful empire. Excavations of some of these have revealed extraordinary treasures of gold and other artifacts well-preserved by permafrost. ...
De Beers is allowing people all over the world to “virtually try on” jewelry that features its Forevermark diamond brand. ...
"All will be connected all the time, and most will have 3D displays and cameras.”
Augmented reality is one of the most exciting technologies around. If you have watched some of those modern Hollywood movies, you have probably seen how our world would look like 20-30 years from now. Who knows when augmented applications become mainstream but they are already making their way to the iPhone platform. Augmented reality is the future but thanks to these augmented reality apps for iPhone, you can experience the future today: