ΝIKOLAOS KARADIMITRIS

Two Android tablets take on Apple: One is up to the task

2012-02-19T12:08:00.001+02:00

Two Android tablets take on Apple: One is up to the task - http://pulse.me/s/674Nr

PEOPLE ARE AWESOME

2012-02-18T14:11:00.000+02:00

Nanosecond Trading Could Make Markets Go Haywire

2012-02-16T21:51:00.001+02:00

The Nasdaq Stock Market, Inc. The afternoon of May 6, 2010 was among the strangest in economic history. Starting at 2:42 p.m. EDT, the Dow Jones stock index fell 600 points in just 6 minutes. Its nadir represented the deepest single-day decline in that market’s 114-year history. By 3:07 p.m., the index had rebounded. The “flash crash,” as it came to be known, was big, unexpected and scary — and a new study says flash events actually happen routinely, at speeds so fast they don’t register on regular market records, with potentially troubling consequences for market stability. The analysis involved five years of stock market trading data gathered between 2006 and 2011 and sorted in fine-grained, millisecond-by-millisecond detail. Below the 950-millisecond level, where computerized trading occurs so quickly that human traders can’t even react, no fewer than 18,520 crashes and spikes occurred. The study’s authors call those events “financial black swans,” though they’re so common that the black swan label probably doesn’t fit anymore. Moreover, those events fell into patterns that didn’t fit market patterns seen at other time scales. It’s as if computerized trading has created a new world, one where the usual rules don’t apply, populated by algorithms and only dimly understood by the people who made them. The extent to which that world influences our own — perhaps making events like the 2010 flash crash more likely, or causing markets to be generally more volatile — is an open question. “There’s this whole world below 650 milliseconds. It’s like landing on another planet,” said Neil Johnson, a complex systems specialist at the University of Miami and co-author of the study, released Feb. 7 on arXiv. “It’s an enormous part of the market which is out of human reach. We have a glimpse of the kind of ecology that’s going on down there.” Red line represents the frequency of sub-650 millisecond flash crashes, and blue the frequency of flash spikes, between January 2006 and February 2011. The black spike is the S&P 500 index. Image: Johnson et al./arXiv Until recently, trading was the preserve of humans. Imagine a stock market and you likely envision a loud, crowded trading floor, a scene out of Wall Street. But in 1998, after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission authorized the first electronic exchanges, computer trading programs entered markets as equals to humans. The programs are designed to trade enormous volumes of stocks, bonds and other financial instruments at superfast speeds, taking advantage of second-to-second fractional price shifts and market trends. It’s now estimated that high-frequency computer trading accounts for 70 percent of all equity trades. While some activity does occur at speeds with which humans can interact, much of it falls beyond the limits of human response time. (One new computer chip built specifically for high-frequency trading can prepare trades in .000000074 seconds; a proposed $300 million transatlantic cable is being built just to shave 0.006 seconds off transaction times between New York City and London.) In the early years of computer trading, algorithms were profitable and concerns rare. Designers and investors took their money and didn’t think much about what Johnson and co-authors call “ultrafast machine ecology.” After the 2010 flash crash, however, mainstream economists wondered if high-frequency trading systems might sometimes get weird and unpredictable. A $4.1 billion automated sale was ultimately blamed for triggering that crash, and economists started asking questions about the new, hazy relationships between machines and markets. “We are certainly witnessing one of the major transitions in the history of financial markets,” said automated trading researcher John Cartlidge of the University of Bristol, who was not involved in new study. “Economic theory has always lagged behind economic reality, but now the speed of technological change is widening that gap at an exponential rate. The scary result of this is that we now live in a world dominated by a global financial market of which we have virtually no sound theoretical understanding.” In the new study, researchers led by Johnson and simulation engineer Brian Tivnan of the University of Vermont analyzed millisecond-scale price logs from 600 markets. The numbers were gathered by Nanex, a Chicago-based company that sells live market data. 'We now live in a world dominated by a global financial market of which we have virtually no sound theoretical understanding.' From this analysis emerged records of 18,520 sub-950-millisecond crashes and spikes — far more than they, and perhaps almost anyone, expected. Equally as striking as these events’ frequency was their arrangement: While market behavior tends to rise and fall in patterns that repeat themselves, fractal-style, in periods of days, weeks, months and years, “that only holds down to the time scale at which human stop being able to respond,” said Johnson. “The fractal gets broken.” Why this should happen isn’t exactly clear, but the researchers think it reflects differences between human and computer trading strategies. Whereas people have many different strategies, high-frequency programs “sacrifice diversity for speed,” said Tivnan. “You see a lot more homogeneity at the sub-second scale than we see above 1,500 ms.” In the researchers’ models of high-frequency trading markets, a variety of algorithms eventually evolved into a few stripped-down, optimized forms. With many algorithms converging on just a few different strategies, the high-frequency trading market could become vulnerable to systemwide herd behaviors. Fortunately for us, the market seems to rebound from spikes almost as immediately as they occur — Johnson and Tivnan likened the effect to a “coiled spring” returning to form — but as seen in May 2010, this might not always happen. Johnson and Tivnan also used another metaphor to describe the flash crashes and spikes: fractures. The events could be imagined as microfractures in the wing of an aircraft, accumulating unnoticeably until some critical, breakage-causing mass is reached. To that end, they found a correlation between rising frequencies of sub-950-ms flash events, market volatility after 2008, and the May 2010 flash crash. The 10 stocks most prone to crash-and-spiking were all financial companies, with Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo topping the list. “Lay the occurrences of spikes and crashes against each other on the same timeline, and then look at the movement of a major index like the Standard & Poor’s 500. What’s particularly interesting is that dramatic increases of spikes and crashes coincided with major movements in the S&P index itself,” said Tivnan. However, it’s uncertain whether this correlation reflects a cause-and-effect relationship. It could conceivably be just a coincidence. “The results are provocative, but need more statistical testing to be something you can reliably interpret,” said complex systems theorist Doyne Farmer of the Santa Fe Institute, who was not involved in the new study. Blue bars represent the distribution of different high-frequency trading strategies; red bars represent strategies that could be added at critical points to reduce flash behaviors. Image: Johnson et al./arXiv Uncertainties notwithstanding, the paper is still “an extremely important contribution to solve the puzzle of financial complexity,” said econophysicist Tobias Preis of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, who studies patterns that precede market bubbles. Cartlidge called the paper “timely and important,” and said the findings are “likely to have a significant impact on market participants and regulators alike.” The question of regulation is a tricky one. In the aftermath of May 2010, federal U.S. regulators introduced so-called “circuit breakers” that automatically halt trading if a stock price falls too much, too fast. But whether this actually works isn’t yet known. “Currently, we’re having trouble even observing at that level of resolution, let alone regulating it,” said Tivnan. Tivnan also works for the MITRE Corporation, a nonprofit engineering and technology consultancy that provides research support to U.S. regulatory agencies. Both the U.S. and European Union are actively investigating further intervention in the machine trading world. Johnson and Tivnan propose a subtler approach than circuit-breakers, one that would “steer” automated markets by introducing rogue algorithms when herd behaviors appear imminent. Farmer wants markets altered to become slower, with trades occurring intermittently — once per second or once even per minute, rather than constantly — and speed de-emphasized. That would allow algorithm designers “to focus on the quality of decision-making, rather than the time it takes,” said Farmer, who preaches caution in designing new regulation. “There’s a danger of Europeans doing some changes they haven’t thought through, and there’s danger of the United States not changing things they need to change,” Farmer said. “It’s hard to think these things through, because nobody understands them.” Citation: “Financial black swans driven by ultrafast machine ecology.” By Neil Johnson, Guannan Zhao, Eric Hunsader, Jing Meng, Amith Ravindar, Spencer Carran and Brian Tivnan. arXiv, 7 February 2012. Go to original article

H Google ετοιμάζει το δικό της Dropbox. Θα το λένε Drive | Digital Life

2012-02-11T20:30:00.000+02:00

H Google ετοιμάζει το δικό της Dropbox. Θα το λένε Drive | Digital Life

Αποκλειστικές πληροφορίες της Wall Street Journal αναφέρουν πως η Google ετοιμάζεται να διαθέσει μία Cloud-based υπηρεσία που θα έρθει αντιμέτωπη με το πολύ δημοφιλές Dropbox.
Το όνομά του θα είναι Drive και θα είναι η απάντηση στα ολοένα και πιο δημοφιλή cloud services καθώς είναι ολοένα και μεγαλύτερη η ανάγκη των χρηστών να αποθηκεύουν αρχεία στο σύννεφο που θα είναι προσβάσιμα από πολλές συσκευές.
Το Drive θα δίνει τη δυνατότητα να αποθηκεύουμε φωτογραφίες, έγγραφα και βίντεο στους servers της Google ενώ αν κάποιος πάρει πχ κάνει λήψη ενός video από το smartphone του, αυτό θα αποθηκεύεται στο Drive και θα μπορεί να στέλνει με mail το link ώστε να το δουν οι άνθρωποι που θέλει, χρησιμοποιώντας την εφαρμογή του Drive για τη συσκευή του.
Η υπηρεσία θα διατεθεί μέσα στους επόμενους μήνες και θα είναι δωρεάν, τουλάχιστον για επιχειρήσεις και ιδιώτες που θα θέλουν να έχουν μέχρι ένα συγκεκριμένο χώρο αποθήκευσης. Δεν ξέρουμε αν θα είναι μέχρι 2 Giga όπως και το Dropbox, ούτε γνωρίζουμε ακόμα πόσο θα χρεώνει η Google μεγαλύτερο αποθηκευτικό χώρο.
Σίγουρα όμως θα είναι ένα εξαιρετικό συμπλήρωμα στις ήδη αρκετές «cloud» υπηρεσίες της Google.

http://pulse.me/s/5FTOF

2012-02-05T17:51:00.001+02:00

Spark Linux tablet specs updated, going up for pre-order next week - http://pulse.me/s/5FTOF

http://pulse.me/s/5tUlT

2012-01-31T23:24:00.001+02:00

How to Write a Cover Letter That Employers Will Actually Read [Job Search] -

marketing myopia Levitt

2012-01-29T16:27:00.001+02:00

YouTube

http://m.youtube.com/index?client=mv-google&desktop_uri=%2F&gl=US&rdm=4pf3n25rp#

Κυπριακή απάντηση στον οικο Fitch για την υποβάθμιση

2012-01-29T16:12:00.001+02:00

'Εντονη ήταν η αντίδραση του υπουργείου Οικονομικών της Κύπρου για την υποβάθμιση της πιστοληπτικής ικανότητας της χώρας από τον οίκο Fitch από ΒΒΒ σε ΒΒΒ-με αρνητική προοπτική. Σε ανακοίνωσή του τονίζει ότι, παρόλες τις αντιξοότητες και τις αρνητικές εξωτερικές επιδράσεις, η κυπριακή οικονομία εδράζεται πάνω σε στέρεες βάσεις και παρουσιάζει εξαιρετικές προοπτικές για το μέλλον ενώ η ικανότητα, εξωστρέφεια, εργατικότητα και ευελιξία του επιχειρηματικού κόσμου σε συνδυασμό με το ψηλό ποιοτικό επίπεδο του εργατικού δυναμικού και την κοινωνική συνοχή της Κύπρου "αποτελούν σήμερα, όπως και στο παρελθόν, τον ακρογωνιαίο λίθο για την πρόοδο της οικονομίας. Με αυτό το δεδομένο, η κυβέρνηση, σε συνεργασία με τον ιδιωτικό τομέα, θα προωθήσει σύντομα, πακέτο αναπτυξιακών μέτρων". Επίσης, αναφέρεται ότι το υπουργείο σε συνεργασία με την Κεντρική Τράπεζα της Κύπρου παρακολουθεί συστηματικά τη διαχείριση των προκλήσεων του χρηματοοικονομικού συστήματος. "Η εμπιστοσύνη του Υπουργείου Οικονομικών προς το τραπεζικό σύστημα της Κύπρου αποδεικνύεται έμπρακτα με τις καταθέσεις σε τραπεζικά ιδρύματα στις οποίες προβαίνει συστηματικά η κυβέρνηση", επισημαίνεται στην ανακοίνωση. Είναι αξιοσημείωτο, προστίθεται, ότι την ίδια ημέρα που αποφασιζόταν η υποβάθμιση της πιστοληπτικής ικανότητας της Κυπριακής Δημοκρατίας, το Υπουργείο Οικονομικών προχώρησε σε δημοπρασία γραμματίων του δημοσίου, και τα τραπεζικά ιδρύματα πρόσφεραν το 164% του ποσού που ζήτησε το υπουργείο. Όσον αφορά το ζήτημα της αναδιαμόρφωσης της ΑΤΑ που επισημαίνεται από τον Οίκο Fitch, το Υπουργείο Οικονομικών της Κύπρου, αναφέρεται στην ανακοίνωση, "πιστεύει ότι μέσα από ένα εποικοδομητικό κοινωνικό διάλογο θα επιτευχθεί η αναγκαία αναδιάρθρωση διατηρώντας, παράλληλα, το θεμιτό και αναγκαίο πλαίσιο κοινωνικής δικαιοσύνης".

Bill Gates: "I wrote a letter to Steve Jobs "

2012-01-29T15:56:00.001+02:00

People’s plutocrat Bill Gates talks about friendly rivalry, and how to get bankers to part with their money. Bill Gates has frugal tastes. Asked to name his luxuries, he lists DVDs, books and takeaway burgers. It is hard, however, to think that any fast-food outlet would get rich on Gates’s custom. During a long list of engagements beginning well before dawn, he consumes nothing but cans of diet cola. For America’s wealthiest citizen, austerity is relative. The retinue of staff and the private jet hint at a fortune said to be approaching £40 billion. As he told pupils at a south London school he visited this week: “If I hadn’t given my money away, I’d have had more than anyone else on the planet. Ninety-nine per cent of it will go.” In an era when the wealthiest are society’s pariahs, the Microsoft founder has become the people’s plutocrat. Although some diseases, such as malaria, remain rife, his charitable foundation and his lobbying have borne results. In the past year, not a single citizen in India contracted polio. “People think aid is abstract and thousands of miles away. I go there and see it. I’m intent on making sure that my money gets to people who need it, and I come back and say it’s working.” This message has been heeded by “Cameron and George,” who have promised to hit the recognised goal of spending 0.7 per cent of GDP on aid. Is he not disappointed that Mr Osborne will effectively be cutting the budget by more than £1.1 billion over three years, because the economy is shrinking? “I have nothing but praise for the UK. [The drop] is certainly unfortunate, but I can hardly complain about it. 0.7 per cent is the gold standard, and most countries aren’t living up to that.” Should Britain’s richest citizens follow his example? “Philanthropy should be voluntary.” No one, he says, is going to take up giving “because someone scolded them or they heard Bill Gates say something mean. But I do think people are missing an opportunity to make an impact, learn a lot and be fulfilled.” Having persuaded almost 70 like-minded Americans, Warren Buffett included, to give up a large slice of their wealth, Gates would be happy to advise any Britons thinking of following suit. “We’re looking for philanthropists to co-invest, so any advice we can give them [is on offer].” Whether Britain’s bonus beneficiaries will avail themselves of this service is questionable. Still, as Gates points out, there is always tax. “With deficits the way they are, the rich are going to have to pay more. Unfortunately, almost everyone’s going to have to pay more, and it should fall more heavily on the rich… Just raising taxes on the rich won’t solve the crisis, but it seems reasonable to people – and there’s plenty of room to do that without creating disincentives or distortions.” The news that the mega-rich Republican candidate, Mitt Romney, pays 15 per cent tax “wasn’t shocking at all. That’s the US system. If people want capital gains taxed more like the highest rate on income, that’s a good discussion. Maybe that’s the way to help close the deficit.” Bill Gates moves seamlessly between worlds. His day in London started in the VIP suite of a television studio and shifted to a school assembly hall before he left for Davos, where yesterday he announced a new $750 million package to fight Aids, malaria and TB. Accustomed to morphing from the subsistence farms of Africa – the focus of his latest effort – to the salons of prime ministers, he does not see himself as a global power broker. “I hope they’re having a good time up at the top table, but I doubt they’re discussing diarrhoea and malaria.” Though always courteous, he has the inscrutable quality of the outsider. As a teenage geek in Seattle, he was entrusted with compiling class timetables on the ponderous school computer. At Harvard, he was the drop-out who founded a multi-billion dollar corporation, and at Microsoft, he was the pioneer in an uncharted techno-world. One of the few people to understand his compulsions was Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple, who died of cancer in October. The two men’s long and stormy relationship has been chronicled in Jobs’s latest biography, but, until now, Gates has said little about their divisions - and their bonds. “Steve was an incredible genius who contributed immensely to the field I was in. We had periods, like the early Macintosh, when we had more people working on it than they did. And then we were competitors. The personal computers I worked on had a vastly higher [market] share than Apple until really the last five or six years, where Steve’s very good work on the Mac and on iPhones and iPads did extremely well. It’s quite an achievement, and we enjoyed each [other’s work].” This tribute, part praise, part reminder of Gates’s dominance, is more tactful than the comments Jobs made in his lifetime. “He spent a lot of his time competing with me. There are lots of times when Steve said [critical] things about me. If you took the more harsh examples, you could get quite a litany.” In Jobs’s view, his rival was “unimaginative”, “a bit narrow” and derivative. As he once told an interviewer, “He [Gates] would be a broader guy if he had dropped acid once or gone off to an ashram.” The atmosphere changed in 2007 when Gates left Microsoft to set up the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation with his wife. “Steve and I did an event together, and he couldn’t have been nicer…I got a fair bit of time with him in his last year. Some months before Jobs died, Gates paid him a long visit. “We spent literally hours reminiscing and talking about the future.” Later, with his old adversary’s death imminent, he wrote to him. “I told Steve about how he should feel great about what he had done and the company he had built. I wrote about his kids, whom I had got to know.” That last gesture was not, he says, conciliatory. “There was no peace to make. We were not at war. We made great products, and competition was always a positive thing. There was no [cause for] forgiveness.” After Jobs’s death, Gates received a phone call from his wife, Laurene. “She said; 'Look, this biography really doesn’t paint a picture of the mutual respect you had.’ And she said he’d appreciated my letter and kept it by his bed.” Bill Gates rarely talks in such human terms. As a mathematician, he prefers numbers to emotion, focusing on the billion people in desperate poverty and the money needed to help them survive and work towards prosperity. As someone on the front line of mortality, he has balanced his aims against his own lifespan and wealth. Asked about his goal by a pupil at the school he is visiting, he says: “I’m 56. Hopefully I’ll live another 25 to 30 years to see [unnecessary] deaths drop to zero.” “It’s not about legacy,” he tells me. “I’d like to see it get done. That is my job.” He has no expectation that his three children, who will inherit only a tiny fraction of his money, will follow him. “Our foundation won’t last long beyond Melinda’s and my lifetime. The resources will last about 20 years after whichever is the last of us to go. There is no family business, and my kids will make their own careers.” While he speculates that they will be “great doctors or great lawyers”, he admires not only entrepreneurs but the market system. “Capitalism has worked phenomenally. Look at North Korea versus South Korea, or China before and after 1979. Capitalism has shortfalls. It doesn’t necessarily take care of the poor, and it underfunds innovation, so we have to offset that. We don’t have to [ask] whether capitalism is wrong.” Though not especially religious, and far from pious (“People on the front line are the saints”), Bill Gates is driven on by faith. “I believed in the personal computer and I devoted my life to it,” he says. “If you have a dream, and it comes true, it’s a very cool thing.” Now he extends the passion he once expended on enterprise to ending disease and starvation. The man who changed the way the rich world lives is equally determined to change the way in which the poor world dies.

iPhone 5 ready for production

2012-01-29T09:46:00.001+02:00

Foxconn employee tells us that the next iPhone is ready for production, indicates likely summer launch | 9to5Mac | Apple Intelligence
We received word from a reliable source at Foxconn in China that the iPhone 5, as it is currently being called, is now gearing for production. The source said various sample devices are also floating around (they vary slightly from one another), so it is impossible to tell which one will be the final. Some things in common with all of them, however, are:

4+ inch display (made by LG on at least one of them).

No teardrop-shaped devices, as rumored in the lead up to the iPhone 4S. Samples so far have been symmetrical in thickness (also longer/wider).

Neither of the sample devices have the iPhone 4/4S form factor.

Neither of the devices are the final versions.

We also heard the non-teardrop and 4-inch display information previously in a report from iLounge, but what is important to note here is that iPhone 4S production did not gear up until late spring of last year. If we follow patterns and give a five month-ish lead time, it would appear that Apple is back on its new iPhone launch for summer/WWDC pattern that it maintained until last year.

We are still a long way off however.

This source is the same that indicated to us late last summer that the iPhone 5 was not happening against the prevailing tide of information, and that Apple was building the iPhone 4S model instead. (Love the comments in that post, by the way.)

internet νέας γενιάς ετοιμαζει το Ισραήλ

2012-01-28T21:10:00.001+02:00

kathimerini.gr | Ίντερνετ «νέας γενιάς» ετοιμάζει το Ισραήλ
Ίντερνετ «νέας γενιάς» ετοιμάζει το Ισραήλ

Πρωτοποριακές τεχνολογίες οι οποίες θα αλλάξουν το πρόσωπο του Διαδικτύου θα αρχίσουν να χρησιμοποιούνται σύντομα στο Ισραήλ.

Πολύ συχνά το Ισραήλ χαρακτηρίζεται ως «Startup Nation» («έθνος ξεκινημάτων»), χάρη στη μακρά του παράδοση στην εμφάνιση πρωτοποριακών επιτευγμάτων υψηλής τεχνολογίας από μικρές εταιρείες. Ωστόσο, υπάρχει ένας κρίσιμος τομέας, αυτός των ταχυτήτων στις συνδέσεις Ίντερνετ, στον οποίο η χώρα έχει μείνει πίσω σε σχέση με άλλα κράτη που πρωτοπορούν στον κόσμο της υψηλής τεχνολογίας.

Εντός των επομένων μηνών, η κρατική εταιρεία ηλεκτρικού ρεύματος του Ισραήλ ελπίζει να το αλλάξει αυτό, παρουσιάζοντας ένα εθνικής εμβέλειας ευρυζωνικό δίκτυο υψηλών ταχυτήτων. Εκμεταλλευόμενη το μικρό μέγεθος της πυκνοκατοικημένης χώρας, η εν λόγω προσπάθεια φιλοδοξεί να φέρει το Ισραήλ στην πρώτη γραμμή της τεχνολογίας Ίντερνετ νέας γενιάς.

Σύμφωνα με ειδικούς, οι οπτικές ίνες μπορούν να παρέχουν συνδέσεις σε ταχύτητες που μπορούν να είναι από δεκαπλάσιες μέχρι εκατονταπλάσιες των σημερινών, μεταμορφώνοντας τον τρόπο που χρησιμοποιείται το Ίντερνετ σε τομείς όπως η ψυχαγωγία, οι επιχειρήσεις και η υγεία.

«Όλες οι αναπτυσσόμενες χώρες οι οποίες έχουν όραμα 10 ή 20 ετών κατανοούν ότι στην καρδιά του 'παιχνιδιού' θα βρίσκονται οι επικοινωνίες, οι ευρυζωνικές, πολύ γρήγορες επικοινωνίες» είπε ο Τζβι Χαρπάλ, ανώτερο στέλεχος της εταιρείας.

Η τεχνολογία αυτή είναι γνωστή ως FTTH (fiber to the home, «ίνα στο σπίτι»). Χρησιμοποιώντας γραμμές οπτικών ινών, μπορεί να παρέχει ταχύτητες που κυμαίνονται από 100 megabits μέχρι 1 gigabit το δευτερόλεπτο. Σήμερα, ο μέσος χρήστης ευρυζωνικής σύνδεσης στον ανεπτυγμένο κόσμο συνδέεται σε ταχύτητες 5-10 mbps.

Ο Όλιβερ Τζόνσον, διευθύνων σύμβουλος της βρετανικής εταιρείας ερευνών Point Topic, θεωρεί ότι η τεχνολογία FTTH θα αποτελέσει το «χρυσό στάνταρ» της νέας γενιάς ευρυζωνικών υπηρεσιών. Αν και οι γραμμές cable και DSL μπορούν να αναβαθμιστούν έτσι ώστε να επιτρέπουν μεγαλύτερες ταχύτητες, η FTTH έχει ομαλότερη μετάδοση δεδομένων και υψηλότερες επιδόσεις στην ταχύτητα.

Το επιπρόσθετο bandwidth θα μπορούσε να αλλάξει δραστικά τον τρόπο με τον οποίο χρησιμοποιείται το Ίντερνετ. Τεράστια αρχεία βίντεο θα μπορούν να κατεβούν αμέσως, ανοίγοντας το δρόμο για ευκολότερη διάθεση ταινιών 3D και high- definition. Επίσης, από τη στιγμή που θα είναι δυνατές και μεγαλύτερες ταχύτητες για upload, μεμονωμένοι χρήστες και εταιρείες θα μπορούν να αποστείλουν πιο εύκολα εικόνες, βίντεο και άλλα αρχεία μεγάλου μεγέθους. Στη Νότια Κορέα, όπου η χρήση των γραμμών FTTH είναι πιο διαδεδομένη, οι χρήστες μπορούν να κάνουν αστραπιαία downloads και πεντακάθαρες, απρόσκοπτες συνδέσεις μέσω Skype. Αυτό σημαίνει πολύ βελτιωμένες τηλεδιασκέψεις σε χώρους εργασίας, ευκολότερο διαμοιρασμό πληροφοριών σε σύνθετες εργασίες, αξιόπιστη παρακολούθηση ασθενών από γιατρούς, ακόμα και προσφορά βοήθειας σε εγχειρήσεις εξ αποστάσεως. Επίσης, θα διευκολύνει και τη μεταφορά πληροφοριών, φωτογραφιών και βίντεο από προσωπικούς υπολογιστές στο «υπολογιστικό νέφος», κάνοντας έτσι την πρόσβαση ενός χρήστη σε δεδομένα ευκολότερη από κάθε σημείο με πρόσβαση στο Ίντερνετ.

Σε όλο τον κόσμο, κυβερνητικά στελέχη καταλήγουν στο συμπέρασμα ότι οι γρήγορες συνδέσεις θα είναι απαραίτητες για την οικονομική ανάπτυξη, με πολλές χώρες να βιώνουν έναν «πυρετό του χρυσού» καθώς δημιουργούν νέα δίκτυα που αξιοποιούν την τεχνολογία FTTH. «Όλοι πιστεύουν ότι το bandwidth θα είναι εκ των ουκ άνευ. Αν δεν το έχεις, η τύχη σου θα τελειώσει σύντομα» λέει ο Ντέηβιντ Σεντ Τζων, εκπρόσωπος του FTTH Council, που εδρεύει στις ΗΠΑ.

Η τεχνολογία πρωτοεμφανίστηκε πριν από περίπου μία δεκαετία, αλλά το κόστος για την εξάπλωση της χρήσης της ήταν απαγορευτικό. Ωστόσο, όταν αυτό άρχισε να μειώνεται, η FTTH άρχισε να «απογειώνεται», ειδικά σε πυκνοκατοικημένες περιοχές. Στην πρώτη θέση όσον αφορά τη χρήση της βρίσκεται η Νότια Κορέα, και ακολουθούν η Ιαπωνία και το Χονγκ Κονγκ. Το Ισραήλ βρίσκεται προς το παρόν χαμηλά στην κατάταξη (28η θέση), αλλά αυτό θεωρείται πως θα αλλάξει σύντομα.

Το Ισραήλ αποτελεί μία από τις «μητροπόλεις» της υψηλής τεχνολογίας, με ισραηλινές εταιρείες να έχουν δημιουργήσει εξαιρετικά επιτυχημένα προϊόντα σε τομείς όπως το λογισμικό ασφαλείας, το instant messaging και το e-commerce. Η Microsoft, η Intel και άλλοι κολοσσοί του χώρου της τεχνολογίας έχουν κέντρα στο Ισραήλ, ενώ η Apple σύντομα θα στήσει το δικό της development center. Με το 92% του πληθυσμού του να ζει σε αστικές περιοχές, γίνεται ακόμα πιο εύκολο το να συνδεθούν μεγάλοι αριθμοί πολιτών. Μέσα στο επόμενο έτος θεωρείται ότι το 10% της χώρας θα έχει καλυφθεί από προηγμένα δίκτυα, και τα 2/3 εντός επτά ετών.

www.kathimerini.gr με πληροφορίες από ΑΡ

Watch: Twitter's Cheeky Infomercial to Recruit Job Applicants

2012-01-28T21:03:00.001+02:00

Watch: Twitter's Cheeky Infomercial to Recruit Job Applicants - http://pulse.me/s/5pR

Παραμενει υπο κρατηση ο ιδρυτης του Megaupload

2012-01-28T19:07:00.001+02:00

kathimerini.gr | Παραμένει υπό κράτηση ο ιδρυτής του Megaupload
Παραμένει υπό κράτηση ο ιδρυτής του Megaupload

Υπό κράτηση παραμένει ο ιδρυτής του ιστότοπου Megaupload.com, Κιμ Σμιτς.

Παραμένει υπό κράτηση ο ιδρυτής του ιστότοπου Megaupload.com, Κιμ Σμιτς, ο επονομαζόμενος Κιμ Ντόκτομ, καθώς ο εισαγγελέας Ντέιβιντ ΜακΝότον, που έχει αναλάβει την υπόθεση, αρνήθηκε το αίτημά του να αφεθεί ελεύθερος με εγγύηση.

Ο 37χρονος Γερμανός, ο οποίος κατηγορείται από το FBI για μαζική πειρατεία στο ;Iντερνετ και συνελήφθη την περασμένη Παρασκευή στη Νέα Ζηλανδία, εξακολουθεί να απορρίπτει τις κατηγορίες που τον βαρύνουν.

Μετά από τη χθεσινή απόφαση της εισαγγελίας, τόσο ο Κιμ Σμιτς, όσο και τρεις ακόμη συγκατηγορούμενοι - στελέχη του Megaupload.com, θα παραμείνουν υπό κράτηση μέχρι τις 22 Φεβρουαρίου.

taxiplon Barcelona world mobile congress

2012-01-28T18:51:00.001+02:00

Ελληνική εταιρεία φιναλίστ στο World Mobile Congress της Βαρκελώνης - 27/1/2012 11:07:00 μμ

kindle fire hands on

2012-01-28T18:43:00.001+02:00

YouTube

2012-01-28T18:37:00.001+02:00

HTC Sense 4.0: First Impressions

Davos, Ackermann says Greek default would be playing wth fire

2012-01-28T16:43:00.001+02:00

Ackermann Says Greek Default Would Be ‘Playing With Fire’ - Businessweek(Adds Ackermann comments starting in the second paragraph. See {DAVOS } for more on the World Economic Forum.)Jan. 28 (Bloomberg) -- The economic and political consequences of Greece defaulting instead of reaching a voluntary debt-restructuring deal are being underestimated, Deutsche Bank AG Chief Executive Officer Josef Ackermann said.“Default risk is much higher than what people normally take into account,” Ackermann said today in an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “You see already that some markets are nervous about certain countries,” he said. “That is playing with fire if you think that a default will have no impact.”As Greece’s creditors continue negotiations with the country’s government as well as the International Monetary Fund, European Union, and European Central Bank over the terms of a restructuring, some investors and financiers are downplaying the consequences of a default. JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon said this week that it would not be a “disaster,” Dow Jones reported, citing an interview with CNBC.“They are underestimating the collateral damages and they are underestimating the risk of contagion,” Ackermann, 63, said today. “If we have a default in the euro zone going forward, this will reduce somewhat the trust and confidence in the euro system and so, in that sense, we should do everything also from a historic and political perspective to prevent a default.”Market participants remain sceptical that Greece will be able to make a 14.5 billion-euro ($19.2 billion) bond payment in March. In a Bloomberg Global Poll of 1,209 investors released this week, 93 percent of respondents said they expect Greece to default.Single NegotiatorSuch a failure would damage direct investments that banks and companies have made in Greece while also hitting the firms because of their exposure to its broader economy, Ackermann said today. The fallout would affect a claim of about 100 billion euros that the European Central Bank payment system has against the Greek central bank, he said.Deutsche Bank, Germany’s largest lender, has 874.7 million euros of total debt exposure to Greece, according to figures released by the European Banking Authority in London in December. The bank at that time had sold 4.42 billion euros of credit-default swap protection on Greece and had purchased 4.32 billion euros of CDS protection, the data showed.Ackermann is immersed in the Greek debt negotiations as chairman of the Institute of International Finance, which represents banks, fund managers and other private-sector Greek creditors in the debt-restructuring talks. He said today that he wants policy makers at the table, including the IMF, EU, ECB and Greek government, to appoint a single negotiator to ease the process.Soros, Babacan“We have a team now in Athens negotiating, or ready to negotiate, and we need someone from the public sector who has the authority to close the deal,” Ackermann said. “The gap is narrowing. We are still not quite there where the IMF and especially Germany would like to be, but we are making good progress.”Billionaire investor George Soros told Bloomberg Television yesterday that Greece remains the region’s weakest link.“If Greece defaults it should not be the end of the world,” Soros said. “But the rest of Europe needs to be sufficiently ring-fenced, and not enough has been done.”Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan also warned against the dangers of allowing a country to default. Turkey is not a member of the European Union or the euro area.“Once that door is open for defaults, it is possible and likely other countries could go through that door,” Babacan said today in Davos. “It’s time to show a serious demonstration of solidarity, but make sure countries don’t default.”--With assistance from Caroline Connan, Simon Kennedy and Erik Schatzker in Davos. Editors: Otis Bilodeau, John FraherTo contact the reporter on this story: Christine Harper in Davos, Switzerland, on charper@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Otis Bilodeau at obilodeau@bloomberg.net

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-01-28/ackermann-says-greek-default-would-be-playing-with-fire-.html

2012-01-28T16:38:00.001+02:00

Ackermann Says Greek Default Would Be ‘Playing With Fire’ - Businessweek

2012-01-28T14:07:00.001+02:00

Google's Executive Chairman Dismisses America's Jobs Crisis - http://pulse.me/s/5pAB5

What Eurozone Crisis?

2012-01-20T10:00:00.001+02:00

What Eurozone Crisis? - http://pulse.me/s/5a5Hl

Appleâ€™s Market Cap Tickles $400 Billion

2012-01-20T09:45:00.000+02:00

Appleâ€™s Market Cap Tickles $400 Billion

The secret Apple keeps

2012-01-18T20:44:00.001+02:00

The secrets Apple keeps - http://pulse.me/s/56noD
Adam Lashinsky, Sr. Editor at Large - Fortune Tech: Technology blogs, news and analysis from Fortune Magazine | January 18, 2012 The secrets Apple keeps

Undercover meetings! Stealth product developments! The world's most successful company is obsessed with privacy. In his new book, Fortune senior editor-at-large Adam Lashinsky finds out what it's really like to work at Apple and how its secretive behavior pays off.

FORTUNE -- Among the many amazing things about Apple is how scrutinized it is. Rarely have a company, its products, and its top executive -- the late Steve Jobs --been so thoroughly examined. And yet, for a corporation so frequently discussed, Apple is poorly understood. Its products are ubiquitous, but information about the institution is scarce -- which is exactly how Apple wants it. Apple steers the conversation to its gadgets -- for sale at an Apple store near you! -- not its modus operandi. In Inside Apple: How America's Most Admired -- and Secretive -- Company Really Works, I hope to shine a light on how this company labors to keep the world from knowing what's going on inside its walls, with secrecy, both external and internal, being one of Apple's key tools. It's ironic, really. The business world keeps nattering on about the importance of corporate transparency, yet the most successful company in the world is beyond opaque. Born from a feature I wrote for Fortune last year, Inside Apple dissects Apple's covert ways and provides a road map for less-buttoned-up companies to follow. --Adam Lashinsky

Apple employees know something big is afoot when the carpenters appear in their office building. New walls are quickly erected. Doors are added and new security protocols put into place. Windows that once were transparent are now frosted. Other rooms have no windows at all. They are called lockdown rooms: No information goes in or out without a reason.

The hubbub is disconcerting for employees. Quite likely you have no idea what is going on, and it's not like you're going to ask. If it hasn't been disclosed to you, then it's literally none of your business. What's more, your badge, which got you into particular areas before the new construction, no longer works in those places. All you can surmise is that a new, highly secretive project is under way, and you are not in the know. End of story.

Secrecy takes two basic forms at Apple -- external and internal. There is the obvious kind, the secrecy that Apple uses as a way of keeping its products and practices hidden from competitors and the rest of the outside world. This cloaking device is the easier of the two types for the rank and file to understand because many companies try to keep their innovations under wraps. Internal secrecy, as evidenced by those mysterious walls and off-limits areas, is tougher to stomach. Yet the link between secrecy and productivity is one way that Apple (AAPL) challenges long-held management truths and the notion of transparency as a corporate virtue.

All companies have secrets, of course. The difference is that at Apple everything is a secret. The company understands, by the way, that it takes things a little far; there is a hint of a sense of humor about its loose-lips-sink-ships mentality: A T‑shirt for sale in the company store, which is open to the public at 1 Infinite Loop, reads: I VISITED THE APPLE CAMPUS. BUT THAT'S ALL I'M ALLOWED TO SAY.

Apple's airy physical surroundings belie its secretive core. From above, it appears that an oval football stadium could be plopped down inside Infinite Loop. Through the doors of the buildings, in the core of the loop, is a sunny, green courtyard with volleyball courts, grassy lawns, and outdoor seating for lunch. The splendid central cafeteria, Caffe Macs, features separate stations for fresh sushi, salad, and desserts and teems with Apple employees. They pay for their meals, by the way, unlike at Google (GOOG), but the food is quite good and reasonably priced. The appearance is collegiate, but good luck auditing a class. Unlike Google's famously and ridiculously named "Googleplex," where a visitor can roam the inner courtyards and slip into an open door as employees come and go, Apple's buildings are airtight. Employees can be spotted on the volleyball courts from time to time. More typically, visitors gaping into the courtyard will see a campus in constant motion. Apple employees scurry from building to building for meetings that start and end on time.

For new recruits, keeping secrets begins even before they learn which building they'll be working in. Many employees are hired into so‑called dummy positions, roles that aren't explained in detail until after they join the company. "They wouldn't tell me what it was," remembered a former engineer who had been a graduate student before joining Apple. "I knew it was related to the iPod, but not what the job was." Others do know but won't say, a realization that hits the newbies on their first day of work at new-employee orientation.

"You sit down, and you start with the usual roundtable of who is doing what," recalled Bob Borchers, a product marketing executive in the early days of the iPhone. "And half the folks can't tell you what they're doing, because it's a secret project that they've gotten hired for."

The new employees learn that first day of work that they've joined a different kind of company than any they've worked at before. Outside, Apple is revered. Inside, it is cultish, and neophytes are entrusted with only so much information. All new employees attend a half-day of orientation, always on a Monday --unless Monday is a holiday. Much of the orientation is standard big-company stuff: a welcome package with stickers saying you've joined Apple, HR forms, and the like. Apple quickly makes the employees of the relatively few companies it acquires understand they are now part of the Apple family. Lars Albright, who became director of partnerships and alliances in Apple's iAd mobile-advertising business when Apple bought his startup, Quattro Wireless, recalled the delight when a bevy of shiny new iMacs showed up almost immediately following the close of the transaction: "People felt very quickly like you were part of something special," he said. Orientation Monday brings another rare treat. "There's only one free lunch at Apple, and it's on your first day," said a former employee.

Another highlight of an employee's first day at Apple is the realization that there's no one to help you connect your newly issued computer. The assumption is that those smart enough and tech-savvy enough to be hired at Apple can hook themselves up to the network. "Most people are expected to be able to connect to servers," said an Apple observer. "People say: 'That shit was hard, but I figured out who to talk to.' That's super-smart. It's a clever way to get people to connect with each other."

Apple does toss one bone to new recruits. An informal "iBuddy" system provides the name of a peer outside the primary team who can serve as a sounding board, someone for the bewildered new employee to ask questions of. Many have said they met with their iBuddy once or twice at the beginning of their tenure -- before they became too busy to meet again.

Reality sets in at the security briefing, the one element that no Apple employee forgets. Call it Scared Silent. Borchers, the iPhone marketing executive who had worked at Nike (NKE) and Nokia (NOK) before joining Apple, recalled the scene. "Whoever headed up security came in and said, 'Okay, everybody understands secrecy and security are incredibly important here. Let me just explain why.' And the rationale is that when Apple launches a product, if it's been a secret up until the launch, the amount of press and coverage and buzz that you get is hugely valuable to the company. 'It's worth millions of dollars,' I remember her saying." So there's no confusion, the penalty for revealing Apple secrets, intentionally or unintentionally, is clear: swift termination.

Apple's design perfection

The aversion to prerelease publicity is a constant at Apple. Phil Schiller, Apple's powerful senior vice president of product marketing, has been known to compare an Apple product launch to a blockbuster Hollywood movie opening weekend. There is tremendous emphasis on the product's first few days, akin to a film's opening weekend. Releasing details ahead of time would dampen the suspense. Indeed, Apple fanboys camp out in front of Apple stores in anticipation of new Apple product releases in a way that is reminiscent of the lines that once greeted a new installment in the Lord of the Rings or Star Wars franchises. That is precisely the effect Schiller desires from the day one burst of activity. "I still remember him drawing the spike over and over," said a former Apple executive who worked in Schiller's organization. Another reason Apple wants new products to remain in stealth mode until their release dates is so they don't steal the thunder from existing products. If consumers know exactly what's coming, they may hold off on a purchase for fear it will be superseded by the next generation. This dulling of demand renders products already on retail shelves or in warehouses awaiting purchase worthless. (Indeed, even imperfect information can damage sales: Apple said expectations of a new iPhone in the summer of 2011 hurt sales of the existing iPhone 4.)

Most important, announcing products before they are ready gives the competition time to respond, raises customer expectations, and opens a company up to the carping of critics who are bashing an idea rather than an actual product. Companies that fail to grasp the power of secrecy do so at their peril. Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) committed this product-marketing sin in early 2011 by announcing it would have an ill-defined "cloud" offering later in the year. Unfathomably, HP later "pre-announced" the sale of its PC business, inflicting immeasurable damage on a unit that accounted for nearly a third of its sales. (HP's board fired its CEO, Léo Apotheker, shortly after the announcement about the PC unit.)

Secrecy at Apple is strictly enforced from within. Valley engineers love to swap stories about their work, but Apple engineers have a reputation for keeping to themselves. "I've had friends who've been reprimanded for talking too much," reported a former engineer. "It's best in general not to talk about work." The mentality makes Apple stand out in the tech world.

For example, a Valley engineer who plays poker regularly with a team of Apple employees said the understanding is that if Apple comes up at the card table, the subject will be changed. Being fired for blabbing is a well-founded concern. People working on launch events will be given watermarked paper copies of a booklet called Rules of the Road that details every milestone leading up to launch day. In the booklet is a legal statement whose message is clear: If this copy ends up in the wrong hands, the responsible party will be fired.

Apple goes to great lengths to maintain discipline. "There were just these things that were kept very, very secret," said a former senior executive. "There was a project we were working on where we put in special locks on one of the floors and put up a couple of extra doors to hide away a team that was working on stuff. You had to sign extra-special agreements acknowledging that you were working on a super-secret project and you wouldn't talk about it to anyone -- not your wife, not your kids."

10 ways Steve Jobs changed the world

The stress from keeping such secrets becomes too much for some. Jobs made a habit of personally conveying to employees the confidentiality of all-company broadcasts. Recalled one ex‑employee: "He'd say, 'Anything disclosed from this meeting will result not just in termination but in the prosecution to the fullest extent that our lawyers can.' This made me very uncomfortable. You have to watch everything you do. I'd have nightmares."

For the most part, Apple counts on its employees to censor themselves. But in some cases it pays attention to what employees say when they are out of the office -- even when they've only walked across the street for a beer. BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse is tucked so close to Apple's Cupertino campus that insiders jokingly refer to it as IL‑7, for "Infinite Loop 7," a building that doesn't exist. Company lore holds that plainclothes Apple security agents lurk near the bar at BJ's and that employees have been fired for loose talk there. It doesn't matter if the yarn is true or apocryphal. The fact that employees repeat it serves the purpose.

Steve Jobs once said that not talking about the inner workings of the company is something he borrowed from Walt Disney. The creator of the original Magic Kingdom felt the magic the public attributed to Disney would be diminished by excessive focus on what went on behind the scenes. What's more, Disney enforced strict internal secrecy. When it was planning Walt Disney World in Florida in the 1960s, for example, the company (DIS) formed a committee to work on a "Project X." Internal memos about the plans for the new theme park were numbered so they could be tracked, according to Neal Gabler's exhaustive biography, Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination.

It's one thing to pressure employees to keep information from falling into the wrong hands. Apple's twist is that those wrong hands happen to include one's own colleagues. It is, in the words of a former employee, "the ultimate need‑to‑know culture." Teams are purposely kept apart, sometimes because they are unknowingly competing against one another, but more often because the Apple way is to mind one's own business. This has a side benefit that is striking in its simplicity: Employees prevented from butting into one another's affairs will have more time to focus on their own work. Below a certain level, it is difficult to play politics at Apple, because the average employee doesn't have enough information to get into the game. Like a horse fitted with blinders, the Apple employee charges forward to the exclusion of all else.

Apple's headquarters in Cupertino, Calif., is a businesslike place -- and there's no free lunch.

Apple created an elaborate and unnerving system to enforce internal secrecy. It revolves around the concept of disclosure. To discuss a topic at a meeting, one must be sure everyone in the room is "disclosed" on the topic, meaning they have been made privy to certain secrets. "You can't talk about any secret until you're sure everyone is disclosed on it," said an ex‑employee. As a result, Apple employees and their projects are pieces of a puzzle. The snapshot of the completed puzzle is known only at the highest reaches of the organization. It calls to mind the cells a resistance organization plants behind enemy lines, whose members aren't given information that could incriminate a comrade. Jon Rubinstein, formerly Apple's senior hardware executive, once deployed the comparison in a less flattering but equally effective manner. "We have cells, like a terrorist organization," he told Business Week in 2000. "Everything is on a need‑to‑know basis."

As with any secret society, trustworthiness is not assumed. New additions to a group are kept out of the loop for a period of time, at least until they have earned their manager's trust. Organization charts, typical fare at most big companies, don't exist at Apple. That is information employees don't need and outsiders shouldn't have. (When Fortune magazine printed an Apple org chart of its own design in May 2011, visitors to Apple told tales of employees becoming nervous merely being seen with a printed copy of it on their desks.) Employees do have one important source of information, however: the internal Apple Directory. This electronic guide lists each employee's name, group, manager, location, e-mail, and phone number, and might include a photograph.

Apple employees don't need an organization chart to know who is powerful, of course. The executive team, a small council of advisers to the CEO, runs the company, assisted by a cadre of fewer than 100 vice presidents. But rank doesn't always confer status at Apple. Everyone is aware of an unwritten caste system. The industrial designers are untouchable, as were, until his death, the cadre of engineers who had worked with Steve Jobs for years, some dating to his first stint at Apple. A small group of engineers carries the title of DEST, distinguished engineer/scientist, technologist. These are individual contributors with clout in the organization but no management responsibilities.

Otherwise, status fluctuates with the prominence of the products on which one works. As the success of the iPhone and iPad grew, the coolest faction of the company was the software engineers working on Apple's mobile operating system software, known as iOS. Hardware engineers and product marketers connected with the devices ranked high in the pecking order, followed by people in the iTunes, iCloud, and other online services organizations. Employees associated primarily with the Macintosh, once the cocks of the roost, were considered second-rate in the Apple hierarchy by this time. In terms of corporate coolness, functions such as sales, human resources, and customer service wouldn't even rate.

Apple: World's Most Admired Company

With silos being the norm at Apple, the surprise is the silos within silos. "There are no open doors at Apple," said one former employee. Security badges allow people into certain areas only, and it isn't uncommon for employees to go places their boss cannot. Some areas are even more secret than others, and it has nothing to do with special projects. An example is the famous industrial design lab where Apple's designers work. So restrictive is access to the lab that few Apple employees have ever seen inside its doors.

In his bestselling book Incognito, neuroscientist David Eagleman writes about the deleterious impact of a culture of secrecy. "The main thing to know about secrets," he says, "is that keeping them is unhealthy for the brain." People want to tell secrets, he explained, and have a strong natural tendency to do so. Apple solves this problem by keeping its employees in the dark as much as possible. But it also raises the question of the happiness of Apple employees.

By and large, Apple is a collaborative and cooperative environment, devoid of overt politicking. The reason for the cooperation, according to former insiders, is the command-and-control structure. "Everyone knows that seamless integration between the various parts is key to making the magic happen," according to Rob Schoeben, a former vice president who oversaw product marketing for software applications.

Apple co-founder Steve Jobs instilled a culture of intense privacy at the company.

Apple's culture may be cooperative, but it isn't usually nice, and it's almost never relaxed. "When you're on the campus, you never get the feeling that people are slacking off," said an observer with access to Apple's upper ranks. "The fighting can get personal and ugly. There's a mentality that it's okay to shred somebody in the spirit of making the best products."

The competitive nature of the Apple culture comes into play. "If you're distracted even a little bit, then you slow down the team," said Steve Doil, a onetime executive in Apple's supply-chain organization. Another former executive described the Apple culture in similar terms. "It's a culture of excellence," this person noted. "You don't want to be the weak link. There is an intense desire to not let the company down."

Apple's culture is the polar opposite of Google's, where fliers announcing extracurricular activities --from ski outings to a high-profile author series --hang everywhere. At Apple, the iTunes team sponsors the occasional band, and there is a company gym (which isn't free), but by and large Apple people come to work to work. "At meetings, there is no discussion about the lake house where you just spent the weekend," recalled a senior engineer. "You get right down to business." The contrast with the non-Apple world is stark. "When you interact with people at other companies, there's just a relative lack of intensity," said this engineer. "At Apple, people are so committed that they go home at night and don't leave Apple behind them. What they do at Apple is their true religion."

Almost nobody describes working at Apple as being fun. In fact, when asked if Apple is a "fun" place, the responses are remarkably consistent. "People are incredibly passionate about the great stuff they are working on," said one former employee. "There is not a culture of recognizing and celebrating success. It's very much about work." Said another: "If you're a die-hard Apple geek, it's magical. It's also a really tough place to work." A third similarly dodged the question: "Because people are so passionate about Apple, they are aligned with the mission of the company."

If they don't join for a good time, they also don't join Apple for the money. Sure, Apple has spawned its share of stock-options millionaires -- particularly those who had the good timing to join in the first five or so years after Jobs returned. "You can get paid a lot of money at most places here in the Valley," said Frederick Van Johnson, a former Apple marketing employee. "Money is not the metric."

By reputation, Apple pays salaries that are competitive with the marketplace -- but no better. A senior director might make an annual salary of $200,000, with bonuses in good years amounting to 50% of the base. Talking about money is frowned upon at Apple. "I think working at a company like that, and actually being passionate about making cool things, is cool," said Johnson, summarizing the ethos. "Sitting in a bar and seeing that 90% of the people there are using devices that your company made --there is something cool about that, and you can't put a dollar value on it."

Steve Jobs -- who was uninterested in discussing money -- took a nuanced view of the subject of happiness and enjoyment at Apple. "I don't know anyone who wouldn't say it's the most fulfilling experience in their lives," he once said. "People love it, which is different than saying they have fun. Fun comes and goes."

This article is from the February 6, 2012 issue of Fortune.

Filed under: Uncategorized

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2012-01-17T21:52:00.001+02:00

Wikipedia Joins Legion of Sites Going Dark Wednesday In Protest of SOPA Legislation - http://pulse.me/s/55h0R

2012-01-15T21:44:00.001+02:00

Parrot AR.Drone 2.0: Το απόλυτο «παιχνίδι» για το smartphone σου… έγινε καλύτερο από ποτέ

Ipad3 said to have High Def scren, LTE Access

2012-01-15T15:04:00.001+02:00

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IPad 3 Said to Have High-Def Screen, LTE Access

By Tim Culpan, Peter Burrows and Adam Satariano January 13, 2012 7:44 PM EST

Apple Inc. (AAPL)’s next iPad, expected to go on sale in March, will sport a high-definition screen, run a faster processor and work with next-generation wireless networks, according to three people familiar with the product. The company’s manufacturing partners in Asia started ramping up production of the iPad 3 this month and plan to reach full volumes by February, said one of the people, who asked not to be named because the details aren’t public. The tablet will use a quad-core chip, an enhancement that lets users jump more quickly between applications, two of the people said.

Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook is counting on the new model to ward off mounting competition in a market that Apple pioneered two years ago. After its debut in 2010, the iPad emerged as the company’s second-biggest source of revenue -- after the iPhone -- and inspired rival products from Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) and Samsung (005930) Electronics Co. Apple has sold more than 40 million iPads, generating at least $25.3 billion in sales. Natalie Kerris , a spokeswoman for Apple, said the company doesn’t comment on rumor and speculation. The Cupertino, California-based company has been working on making the iPad compatible with a wireless standard called long- term evolution, or LTE, said one of the people. Carriers such as Verizon Wireless (VZ) and ATT Inc. (T) are rolling out LTE networks to give users faster access to data. LTE Networks Smartphone makers, including Samsung, Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. (MMI) and Nokia Oyj (NOKIA) , have already introduced smartphones that work on the faster networks. Apple is bringing LTE to the iPad before the iPhone because the tablet has a bigger battery and can better support the power requirements of the newer technology, said one of the people. The new display is capable of greater resolution than the current iPad, with more pixels on its screen than some high-definition televisions, the person said. The pixels are small enough to make the images look like printed material, according to the person. Videos begin playing almost instantly because of the additional graphics processing, the person said. The new iPad is being assembled by Apple’s main manufacturing partner, Foxconn Technology Group. Like most technology companies, Apple contracts with companies in Asia for labor to assemble its devices. Foxconn, which also builds the iPhone and other Apple products, gets about 22 percent of its sales from Apple, according to supply-chain data compiled by Bloomberg. Boosting Production Mass production began at the start of this month, with factories running 24 hours a day in China , one of the people said. Manufacturing will halt over China’s Lunar New Year holiday this month and then ramp back up to a peak in February, the person said. The introduction of the new iPad will be Apple’s first major hardware release since the death of company co-founder Steve Jobs in October. The company is hosting an education event focused on electronic textbooks next week that won’t include any hardware introductions, said a person familiar with the matter. Apple, the world’s largest technology company by market value, was little changed yesterday in U.S. trading at $419.81. The stock rose 26 percent in 2011, marking its third straight year of gains.

To contact the reporters on this story: Tim Culpan in Taipei at tculpan1@bloomberg.net ; Peter Burrows in San Francisco at pburrows@bloomberg.net ; Adam Satariano in San Francisco at asatariano1@bloomberg.net ; To contact the editors responsible for this story: Michael Tighe at mtighe4@bloomberg.net ; Tom Giles at tgiles5@bloomberg.net

2012-01-02T20:35:00.001+02:00

A Look Back at IBM's Palmisano Era and the China Strategy - http://pulse.me/s/4AQzN
Arik Hesseldahl | January 2, 2012

A Look Back at IBM's Palmisano Era and the China Strategy

Saturday was Sam Palmisano’s last day on the job as CEO of IBM, and Sunday was Ginny Rometty’s first.

The New York Times published something of an exit interview with Palmisano over the weekend. It read a bit like a victory lap, and that’s not undeserved. The record books will show that IBM shares during the Palmisano era (2003-2011) rose by 125 percent; sales grew from $81 billion in 2002 to an expected $107 billion; and annual profits on a per-share basis went from $3.07 to a consensus forecast of $13.38.

But it got me to thinking about one of the highlights of the Palmisano era; one that generated a great deal of attention at the time: IBM’s decision to sell its personal computer division to Lenovo, the Chinese PC maker. It was a relatively small deal, worth less than $2 billion at the time, but it was a controversial move. Despite the fact that IBM wasn’t making much money on the business, IBM PCs, especially its ThinkPad line of notebooks, were generally considered to be pretty good.

Nearly seven years later, it’s worth noting that Lenovo is now the world’s second-largest PC vendor behind Hewlett-Packard, having earlier this year vaulted past Dell, according to the market research firm IDC. It’s also worth noting that Lenovo is in fifth place in the U.S., behind HP, Dell, Apple and Toshiba, in that order.

IBM initially owned 15 percent of Lenovo and maintained a stake in that company until February of this year, when it sold its remaining 4.3 percent shares at a profit of more than a quarter-billion dollars.

Lenovo’s biggest shareholder is Legend Holdings, of which 36 percent is owned by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, a.k.a. CAS Holdings, a state-controlled entity. The state has pared back its stake, though: When the IBM-Lenovo deal was announced in 2005, Lenovo was 57 percent state-owned.

There was a lot of natural controversy, and even national security concerns in 2005, about selling so red-blooded an American product as the IBM PC to China. But there was also a solid business case to consider. The PC business was a drag on earnings because of downward price pressure exerted by Dell and all the others, and it wasn’t even leading the market, as was the case with Hewlett-Packard, which engaged in some very public contemplation about spinning off its own PC division.

But there was also a potential strategic benefit, which Michael Useem, a professor a the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of management, pointed out at the time: Making friends with China.

By selling an underperforming asset to a buyer willing to take it and run with it, IBM got solid access to the exploding Chinese market. In paraphrased remarks to The Times, Palmisano concedes the point:

Palmisano says he deflected overtures from Dell and private equity firms, preferring the sale to a company in China for strategic reasons: the Chinese government wants its corporations to expand globally, and by aiding that national goal, I.B.M. enhanced its stature in the lucrative Chinese market, where the government still steers business.

So how has that worked out? It’s a little hard to tell from reading Big Blue’s Byzantine financial statements. In fiscal 2005, the year the deal closed, IBM reported $18.6 billion, or about 20 percent of revenue, came from the Asia-Pacific region, including China.

And though it declined to provide specific dollar amounts, it said that year that sales in China had dropped by 19 percent, but after after stripping out the PC division, would have grown by 8 percent.

For the first nine months of fiscal 2011, IBM reported that the Asia-Pacific region accounted for exactly the same amount — $18.6 billion — amounting to 24 percent of its overall sales of $77.4 billion, and there’s still a quarter to go. That would put Asia on track account for a little less than a quarter of IBM’s revenue

IBM also makes a point in its earnings statements of calling attention to what it calls “growth markets,” which are generally the BRIC countries — Brazil, Russia, India and China. These markets combined for 23 percent of sales in IBM’s most recent quarter.

This is about as close to understanding the size of IBM’s business in China as we’re going to get. On balance it looks to have been a positive move, especially when you consider that had IBM kept its PC division, it would have likely only gotten smaller and become more of a profit drag on a company that’s increasingly focused on high-margin businesses like services and consulting.

Nor can we judge by IBM’s headcount. Globally, as of the publication of its last annual report, IBM employed 426,751 people. But it has stopped providing a geographical breakdown. A report in The Times of India in 2010, mentioned by The Wall Street Journal, suggested that Big Blue’s headcount in India might be as high as 130,000, which if true would make it one of that country’s top 10 employers.

There is no question that IBM’s presence in China has grown. You can tell by the press releases. There was for example, a new IBM Research lab in Shanghai in 2008, and another in 2010. Just last month IBM announced it had closed a significant IT deal for a major health care provider in Hong Kong, and another with a Chinese province to improve the safety of pork (which included a food safety video I embedded below).

For better or worse, Palmisano will be remembered as the man who traded PCs for access to China. On balance it seems to have been a good trade, but the jury is still out.

Tomorrow is the first business day of IBM’s Rometty era. Assuming she retires at age 60, a well-established IBM tradition, she’ll have about six years to make her mark. One wonders what she’ll be remembered for most.

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2011-12-31T11:29:00.001+02:00

Freaky—This Simple Trick Lets You See the Blood Vessels In Your Eye [Video] - http://pulse.me/s/4vYDW

2011-12-31T10:59:00.001+02:00

Developing Mindful Leaders - http://pulse.me/s/4vnmk

Organizations invest billions annually on a success curriculum known as "leadership development," which ends up leaving so much on the table. Training and development programs almost universally focus factory-like on inputs and outputs — absorb curriculum, check a box; learn a skill, advance a rung; submit to assessment, fix a problem. Likewise, they leave too many people behind with an elite selection process that fast-tracks "hi-pos" and essentially discards the rest. And they leave most people cold with flavor of the month remedies, off sites, immersions, and excursions — which produce little more than a grim legacy of fat binders gathering dust on shelves.
What if, instead of stuffing people with curricula, models, and competencies, we focused on deepening their sense of purpose, expanding their capability to navigate difficulty and complexity, and enriching their emotional resilience? What if, instead of trying to fix people, we assumed that they were already full of potential and created an environment that promoted their long-term well-being?
In other words, what if cultivating a successful inner life was front and center on the leadership agenda?
That was the question Todd Pierce asked himself in 2006 after years of experimenting with the full menu of trainings, meetings, and competency models in his capacity as CIO of biotechnology giant Genentech. He had just scoured the development reports of some 700 individuals in the IT department and found that "not one of them had an ounce of inspiration. I remember sitting there and saying, 'There's got to be a another way.'"
At the time, Pierce was benefiting personally from work with a personal coach and had recently woken up to the power of the practice of mindfulness. He called in a kindred soul, Pamela Weiss, a long-time executive coach and meditation teacher, to help design an experiment that would cast out the traditional approach to leadership development to focus instead on helping people grow.
"If you want to transform an organization it's not about changing systems and processes so much as it's about changing the hearts and minds of people," says Weiss. "Mindfulness is one of the all-time most brilliant technologies for helping to alleviate human suffering and for bringing out our extraordinary potential as human beings."
Pierce and Weiss distilled a set of principles that form the basis of what became the "Personal Excellence Program" (PEP), now heading into its sixth year inside Genentech (Pierce left the company this fall after 11 years to join salesforce.com). Together, these pillars offer up a short course in unleashing human capability, resilience, compassion, and well-being (and they're unpacked in even more detail in Weiss and Pierce's entry).
1. Developing people is a process — not an event. "Development is all too often considered a one-time event," says Weiss. She and Pierce designed PEP as a ten-month-long journey that unfolds in three phases, with big group meetings, regular small group sessions, individual coaching, peer coaching, and structured solo practice.
2. People don't grow from the neck up. Too much training focuses on the the mind — it's about transferring content. "We talk about the head, the heart, and the body," says Weiss. In fact, they do more than talk about it — they enact it every day at the start of every meeting. The "3-center check in" is the gateway drug to mindfulness. As Weiss describes it: "You close your eyes for a moment and you notice, 'What am I thinking — what's happening in my head center,' then you notice, 'What am I feeling — what's happening in my heart center.' then, 'What am I feeling — what's happening in my body.' It's a way in which people start paying attention and practicing mindfulness without ever practicing meditation."
3. Put mindfulness at the center (but don't call it that!). Weiss and her team were careful to keep the language of specific belief systems and religions out of PEP. The program revolves around three phases: reflection on and selection of a specific quality or capacity you want to work on (patience, decisiveness, courage); three months of cultivating the capacity for self-observation; and the hard work of turning insight into deliberate, dedicated, daily practice.
4. It's hard to grow alone. "People grow best in community," says Weiss. "People don't grow as well just reading a book, getting an online training, or just taking in information. There's an exponential impact in having people grow and learn together." That's why the PEP "pod" (small 6-8 person group) is the main vehicle throughout the year.
5. Everybody deserves to grow. Pierce felt strongly that PEP should be available to people across the board — not just the usual "stars" — and that it should be voluntary. "The program is by application and not declaration," he says.
As PEP heads into its sixth year at Genentech, some 800 people have participated in the program. (Weiss added a graduate curriculum and a student training program to create "PEPtators" as few people want the journey to end.) The impact has been nothing short of transformative for individuals and organization alike. When Pierce took over the IT department in 2002, its employee satisfaction scores were at rock bottom; four years into the program, the department ranked second in the company and is now consistently ranked among the best places to work in IT In the world (even in the wake of Genentech's 2009 merger with Roche Group — always a turbulent and dispiriting experience).
Pierce attributes that to "the emotional intelligence of people and the capacity to change" developed in PEP. But don't take his word for it. The data-obsessed Pierce commissioned a third path impact report on PEP. It came in glowing: 10-20% increase in employee satisfaction, 50% increase in employee collaboration, conflict management, and communication; 12% increase in customer satisfaction; and nearly three times the normal business impact.
"Through PEP we have created a smarter, more agile, and more responsive organization," says Pierce. "The reduction of suffering, the capacity to deal with difficulties, the level of engagement — these things are very powerful and you can't call a meeting to get them or give people stock options and have them. These are skills and qualities you have to cultivate and practice."
So how's this for a new year's resolution for hard-charging leaders: turn every ringing, pinging, tweeting, and blinking thing off — especially your mind — and just breathe.

2011-12-31T10:47:00.001+02:00

Γάτα παίζει Fruit Ninja στο iPad - http://pulse.me/s/4vgTj

2011-12-31T10:45:00.001+02:00

Έρευνα: οι καλύτερες διαδικτυακές εταιρείες του 2011 - http://pulse.me/s/4vd15

2011-12-31T10:44:00.001+02:00

Η διαφήμιση του Samsung Galaxy Tab που θυμίζει… iPad - http://pulse.me/s/4vf4u

2011-12-26T10:27:00.001+02:00

The year in mobile apps: Where we’ve been, where we’re going - http://pulse.me/s/4klfT

2011-12-25T12:26:00.001+02:00

Every 60 seconds: Apple sells 925 iPhones, 2 million people watch online porn, more - http://pulse.me/s/4gKtX

String-theory calculations describe 'birth of the universe' - physicsworld.com

2011-12-24T12:35:00.000+02:00

String-theory calculations describe 'birth of the universe' - physicsworld.com

String-theory calculations describe 'birth of the universe'

Do new calculations describe the "birth of the universe"?

Researchers in Japan have developed what may be the first string-theory model with a natural mechanism for explaining why our universe would seem to exist in three spatial dimensions if it actually has six more. According to their model, only three of the nine dimensions started to grow at the beginning of the universe, accounting both for the universe's continuing expansion and for its apparently three-dimensional nature.

String theory is a potential "theory of everything", uniting all matter and forces in a single theoretical framework, which describes the fundamental level of the universe in terms of vibrating strings rather than particles. Although the framework can naturally incorporate gravity even on the subatomic level, it implies that the universe has some strange properties, such as nine or ten spatial dimensions. String theorists have approached this problem by finding ways to "compactify" six or seven of these dimensions, or shrink them down so that we wouldn't notice them. Unfortunately, Jun Nishimura of the High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK) in Tsukuba says "There are many ways to get four-dimensional space–time, and the different ways lead to different physics." The solution is not unique enough to produce useful predictions.

These compactification schemes are studied through perturbation theory, in which all the possible ways that strings could interact are added up to describe the interaction. However, this only works if the interaction is relatively weak, with a distinct hierarchy in the likelihood of each possible interaction. If the interactions between the strings are stronger, with multiple outcomes equally likely, perturbation theory no longer works.

Matrix allows stronger interactions

Weakly interacting strings cannot describe the early universe with its high energies, densities and temperatures, so researchers have sought a way to study strings that strongly affect one another. To this end, some string theorists have tried to reformulate the theory using matrices. "The string picture emerges from matrices in the limit of infinite matrix size," says Nishimura. Five forms of string theory can be described with perturbation theory, but only one has a complete matrix form – Type IIB. Some even speculate that the matrix Type IIB actually describes M-theory, thought to be the fundamental version of string theory that unites all five known types.

The model developed by Sang-Woo Kim of Osaka University, Nishimura, and Asato Tsuchiya of Shizuoka University describes the behaviour of strongly interacting strings in nine spatial dimensions plus time, or 10 dimensions. Unlike perturbation theory, matrix models can be numerically simulated on computers, getting around some of the notorious difficulty of string-theory calculations. Although the matrices would have to be infinitely large for a perfect model, they were restricted to sizes from 8 × 8 to 32 × 32 in the simulation. The calculations using the largest matrices took more than two months on a supercomputer, says Kim.

Physical properties of the universe appear in averages taken over hundreds or thousands of matrices. The trends that emerged from increasing the matrix size allowed the team to extrapolate how the model universe would behave if the matrices were infinite. "In our work, we focus on the size of the space as a function of time," says Nishimura.

'Birth of the universe'

The limited sizes of the matrices mean that the team cannot see much beyond the beginning of the universe in their model. From what they can tell, it starts out as a symmetric, nine-dimensional space, with each dimension measuring about 10^–33 cm. This is a fundamental unit of length known as the Planck length. After some passage of time, the string interactions cause the symmetry of the universe to spontaneously break, causing three of the nine dimensions to expand. The other six are left stunted at the Planck length. "The time when the symmetry is broken is the birth of the universe," says Nishimura.

"The paper is remarkable because it suggests that there really is a mechanism for dynamically obtaining four dimensions out of a 10-dimensional matrix model," says Harold Steinacker of the University of Vienna in Austria.

Hikaru Kawai of Kyoto University, Japan, who worked with Tsuchiya and others to propose the IIB matrix model in 1997, is also very interested in the "clear signal of four dimensional space–time". "It would be a big step towards understanding the origin of our universe," he says. Although he finds that the evolution of the model universe in time is too simple and different from the general theory of relativity, he says the new direction opened by the work is "worth investigating intensively".

Will the Standard Model emerge?

The team has yet to prove that the Standard Model of particle physics will show up in its model, at much lower energies than this initial study of the very early universe. If it leaps that hurdle, the team can use it to explore cosmology. Compared with perturbative models, Steinacker says, "this model should be much more predictive".

Nishimura hopes that by improving both the model and the simulation software, the team may soon be able to investigate the inflation of the early universe or the density distribution of matter, results which could be evaluated against the density distribution of the real universe.

The research will be described in an upcoming paper in Physical Review Letters and a preprint is available at arXiv:1108.1540.

About the author

Kate McAlpine is a science writer based in the UK

Crowd dynamics: The wisdom of crowds | The Economist

2011-12-19T22:19:00.000+02:00

Crowd dynamics: The wisdom of crowds | The Economist

IMAGINE that you are French. You are walking along a busy pavement in Paris and another pedestrian is approaching from the opposite direction. A collision will occur unless you each move out of the other’s way. Which way do you step?

The answer is almost certainly to the right. Replay the same scene in many parts of Asia, however, and you would probably move to the left. It is not obvious why. There is no instruction to head in a specific direction (South Korea, where there is a campaign to get people to walk on the right, is an exception). There is no simple correlation with the side of the road on which people drive: Londoners funnel to the right on pavements, for example.

Instead, says Mehdi Moussaid of the Max Planck Institute in Berlin, this is a behaviour brought about by probabilities. If two opposing people guess each other’s intentions correctly, each moving to one side and allowing the other past, then they are likely to choose to move the same way the next time they need to avoid a collision. The probability of a successful manoeuvre increases as more and more people adopt a bias in one direction, until the tendency sticks. Whether it’s right or left does not matter; what does is that it is the unspoken will of the majority.

That is at odds with most people’s idea of being a pedestrian. More than any other way of getting around—such as being crushed into a train or stuck in a traffic jam—walking appears to offer freedom of choice. Reality is more complicated. Whether stepping aside to avoid a collision, following the person in front through a crowd or navigating busy streets, pedestrians are autonomous yet constrained by others. They are both highly mobile and very predictable. “These are particles with a will,” says Dirk Helbing of ETH Zurich, a technology-focused university.

Messrs Helbing and Moussaid are at the cutting edge of a youngish field: understanding and modelling how pedestrians behave. Its purpose is not mere curiosity. Understanding pedestrian flows makes crowd events safer: knowing about the propensity of different nationalities to step in different directions could, for instance, matter to organisers of an event such as a football World Cup, where fans from various countries mingle. The odds of collisions go up if they do not share a reflex to move to one side. In a packed crowd, that could slow down lots of people.

In 1995 Mr Helbing and Peter Molnar, both physicists, came up with a “social force” computer model that used insights from the way that particles in fluids and gases behave to describe pedestrian movement. The model assumed that people are attracted by some things, such as the destination they are heading for, and repelled by others, such as another pedestrian in their path. It proved its worth by predicting several self-organising effects among crowds that are visible in real life.

One is the propensity of dense crowds spontaneously to break into lanes that allow people to move more efficiently in opposing directions. Individuals do not have to negotiate their way through a series of encounters with oncoming people; they can just follow the person in front. That works better than trying to overtake. Research by Mr Moussaid suggests that the effect of one person trying to walk faster than the people around them in a dense crowd is to force an opposing lane of pedestrians to split in two, which has the effect of breaking up the lane next door, and so on. Everyone moves slower as a result.

Up close and personal

Another self-organising behaviour comes when opposing flows of people meet at a single intersection: think of parents trying to shepherd their children into school as other parents, their sprogs already dropped off, try to leave. As people stream through in one direction, the pressure on their side of the intersection drops. That gives those waiting on the other side more opportunity to go through, until pressure on their side is relieved. The result is a series of alternating bursts of traffic through the gates.

This oscillation in flows is clever enough to have got Mr Helbing wondering about its application to cars. Traffic-light systems currently operate on fixed cycles, with lights staying green on the basis of past traffic patterns. If those patterns are not repeated, drivers are left to idle their engines for too long at red signals, raising emissions and tempers. Mr Helbing thinks it is better to have decentralised, local systems, which—like parents at the school gates—can respond to a build-up of traffic and keep the lights on green for longer if need be. City authorities agree: Mr Helbing’s ideas will soon be implemented in Dresden and Zurich.

Trying to capture every element of pedestrian movement in an equation is horribly complex, however. One problem is allowing for cultural biases, such as whether people step to the left or the right, or their willingness to get close to fellow pedestrians. An experiment in 2009 tested the walking speeds of Germans and Indians by getting volunteers in each country to walk in single file around an elliptical, makeshift corridor of ropes and chairs. At low densities the speeds of each nationality are similar; but once the numbers increase, Indians walk faster than Germans. This won’t be news to anyone familiar with Munich and Mumbai, but Indians are just less bothered about bumping into other people.

Another problem with assuming people act like particles is that up to 70% of people in a crowd are actually in groups. That matters, as anyone trying to get past shuffling tourists knows. It also leads to some lovely fine-scale choreography when small groups are squeezed. Observations of pavement crowds in Toulouse in France show that clusters of three and four people naturally organise themselves into concave “V” and “U” shapes, with middle members falling back slightly. If a group of three people cared about moving quickly, they would behave like geese and form a convex “V”, with the middle member slightly in front to forge a path. Instead, they adopt a formation that enables them to keep communicating with each other; talking trumps walking.

Mr Moussaid’s solution to such complexity has been to build a model based less on the analogy between humans and particles and more on cognitive science. Agents in this new model are allowed to “see” what’s in front of them; they then try to carve a free path through the masses to get to their destination. This approach produces the same effects of lane-formation in crowds as the physics-based models, but with some added advantages.

In particular, boffins think it could help make emergency evacuations safer. Simulating evacuations is a big part of what pedestrian modellers do—the King’s Cross underground fire in London in 1987 gave the field one of its starting shoves. One big danger in an emergency is that people will follow the crowd and all herd towards a single exit. That in turn means that the crowd may jam as too many people try to force their way through a single doorway.

The physics-based models do have an answer to this problem of “arching” (so called for the shape of the crowd that builds up around the exit). Their simulations suggest the flow of pedestrians through a narrow doorway can be smoothed by plonking an obstacle such as a pillar just in front of the exit. In theory, that should have the effect of splitting people into more efficient lanes. In practice, however, the idea of putting a barrier in front of an emergency exit is too counter-intuitive for planners to have tried.

The cognitive-science model offers a more palatable option, that of experimenting with the effects of changes in people’s visual fields. Mr Moussaid speculates that adaptable lighting systems, which use darkness to repel people and light to attract them, could be used to direct them in emergencies, for example.

Where the cognitive approach falls down is in the most packed environments. “At low densities, behaviour is cognitive and strategic,” says Mr Moussaid. “At high density, it’s about mass movement and physical pressures.” At a certain point crowds can shift from a controlled flow to a stop-and-go pattern, as people are forced to shorten their stride length and occasionally halt to avoid collisions. This kind of movement can develop into something much more frightening, known as crowd turbulence, when people can no longer keep a space between themselves and others. The physical forces that are imparted from one body to another when that happens are both chaotic and powerful: if someone falls over, others will be unable to avoid them.

Science meets religion

Working out precisely how and when these transitions happen is tough. Bringing a real-life situation under control once a stop-and-go pattern has started is equally hard. So the trick is to ensure that serious crowding is avoided in the first place. From big events such as the London Olympics to the design of new railway stations, engineering firms now routinely simulate the movement of people to try to spot areas where crowding is likely to occur.

A typical project involves using off-the-shelf software programs to identify potential bottlenecks in a particular environment, such as a stadium or a Tube station. These models specify the entry and exit points at a location and then use “routing algorithms” that send people to their destinations. Even a one-off event like the Olympics has plenty of data on pedestrian movement to draw on, from past games to other set-piece gatherings such as, say, city-centre carnivals, which enable some basic assumptions about how people will flow.

Once potential points of congestion are identified, more sophisticated models can then be used to go down to a finer level of detail. This second stage allows planners to change architectural designs for new locations and identify when to intervene in existing ones. “There should be many fewer crowd disasters given what we now know and can simulate,” says Mr Helbing.

The biggest test possible of these tools and techniques is the haj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia that Muslims are expected to carry out at least once in their lives if they can. With as many as 3m pilgrims making the journey each year, the haj has a long history of crowd stampedes and deaths. Indeed, video footage of a haj stampede is used by lots of modellers to validate their simulations of crowd turbulence.

The Saudi authorities have brought in consultants in recent years, focusing in particular on the layout of the Jamarat Bridge, where pilgrims perform a ritual in which they throw stones at three pillars. By making the crossing one-way, and changing the shape of the pillars so that people can stone them from a number of locations, they have improved the bridge’s safety.

But according to Paul Townsend of Crowd Dynamics, a consultancy that has worked on the pilgrimage, the risks remain significant. He thinks that the use of gates that could be opened and shut would help to manage the flow. Yet the haj presents some very specific difficulties beyond its sheer scale. Part of the problem is not having a clear idea of how many pilgrims will turn up, which makes planning difficult. Another issue is the nature of the crowd.

“Pilgrims on the haj have the attitude that, if I die there it is God’s will,” says Mr Townsend. “There is a willingness to get more and more dense in the space.” Scientists can model many aspects of pedestrian behaviour, but religious fervour is a step too far.

Schumpeter: Big and clever | The Economist

2011-12-18T14:00:00.000+02:00

Schumpeter: Big and clever | The Economist

SOME people say it is neither big nor clever to drink. Viz, a British comic, settled that debate with a letter from a reader who said: “I drink 15 pints a day, I’m 6 foot 3 inches tall and a professor of theoretical physics.” However, another question about size and cleverness has yet to be resolved. Are big companies the best catalysts of innovation, or are small ones better?
Joseph Schumpeter, after whom this column is named, argued both sides of the case. In 1909 he said that small companies were more inventive. In 1942 he reversed himself. Big firms have more incentive to invest in new products, he decided, because they can sell them to more people and reap greater rewards more quickly. In a competitive market, inventions are quickly imitated, so a small inventor’s investment often fails to pay off.
These days the second Schumpeter is out of fashion: people assume that little start-ups are creative and big firms are slow and bureaucratic. But that is a gross oversimplification, says Michael Mandel of the Progressive Policy Institute, a think-tank. In a new report on “scale and innovation”, he concludes that today’s economy favours big companies over small ones. Big is back, as this newspaper has argued. And big is clever, for three reasons.
First, says Mr Mandel, economic growth is increasingly driven by big ecosystems such as the ones that cluster around Apple’s iPhone or Google’s Android operating system. These ecosystems need to be managed by a core company that has the scale and skills to provide technological leadership.

Second, globalisation puts more of a premium on size than ever before. To capture the fruits of innovation it is no longer enough to be a big company by American standards. You need to be able to stand up to emerging-world giants, many of which are backed by something even bigger: the state.

Third, many of the most important challenges for innovators involve vast systems, such as education and health care, or giant problems, such as global warming. To make a serious change to a complex system, you usually have to be big.

If true, this argument has profound implications for policymakers (though Mr Mandel does not spell them out). Western governments are obsessed with promoting small businesses and fostering creative ecosystems. But if large companies are the key to innovation, why not concentrate instead on creating national champions? Anti-trust regulators have strained every muscle to thwart the creation of monopolies (for example, by preventing AT&T, a telecoms firm, from taking over the American arm of T-Mobile). But if one behemoth is likely to be more innovative than two smaller companies, why not allow the merger to take place?
What should we make of Mr Mandel’s argument? He is right that the old “small is innovative” argument is looking dated. Several of the champions of the new economy are firms that were once hailed as plucky little start-ups but have long since grown huge, such as Apple, Google and Facebook. (In August Apple was the world’s largest listed company by market capitalisation.) American firms with 5,000 or more people spend more than twice as much per worker on research and development as those with 100-500. The likes of Google and Facebook reap colossal rewards from being market-makers rather than market-takers.
Big companies have a big advantage in recruiting today’s most valuable resource: talent. (Graduates have debts, and many prefer the certainty of a salary to the lottery of stock in a start-up.) Large firms are getting better at avoiding bureaucratic stagnation: they are flattening their hierarchies and opening themselves up to ideas from elsewhere. Procter & Gamble, a consumer-goods giant, gets most of its ideas from outside its walls. Sir George Buckley, the boss of 3M, a big firm with a 109-year history of innovation, argues that companies like his can combine the virtues of creativity and scale. 3M likes to conduct lots of small experiments, just like a start-up. But it can also mix technologies from a wide range of areas and, if an idea catches fire, summon up vast resources to feed the flames.
However, there are two objections to Mr Mandel’s argument. The first is that, although big companies often excel at incremental innovation (ie, adding more bells and whistles to existing products), they are less comfortable with disruptive innovation—the kind that changes the rules of the game. The big companies that the original Schumpeter celebrated often buried new ideas that threatened established business lines, as AT&T did with automatic dialling. Mr Mandel says it will take big companies to solve America’s most pressing problems in health care and education. But sometimes the best ideas start small, spread widely and then transform entire systems. Facebook began as a way for students at a single university to keep in touch. Now it has 800m users.
The second is that what matters is not so much whether companies are big or small, but whether they grow. Progress tends to come from high-growth companies. The best ones can take a good idea and use it to transform themselves from embryos into giants in a few years, as Amazon and Google have. Such high-growth firms create a lot of jobs: in America just 1% of companies generate roughly 40% of new jobs.
Let small firms grow big
Politicians should certainly stop demonising big firms and sentimentalising small ones: an economy needs both. But they should not allow their new-found appreciation of big companies to degenerate into a taste for picking national champions. Such firms typically gobble subsidies and crowd out smaller, more creative firms. Nor should they start tolerating monopolies. The key to promoting innovation (and productivity in general) lies in allowing vigorous new companies to grow big, and inefficient old ones to die. On that, Schumpeter never changed his mind.

2011-12-18T13:01:00.001+02:00

The Top 5 Social Media Tools of 2011
The time has come!
We’re about to unveil the top five new social media tools of 2011 after having served up tools 20 through to six over the last two weeks. See parts one, two and three here.
It wasn’t easy narrowing down the tools that would occupy the top spots but we got there after much deliberation and discussion.
So, without further adieu, here are the top five new social media tools of 2011.
5. MyNewsDesk.com - This ‘news exchange’ startup out of Stockholm has become one of the most talked about social media tools of 2011 thanks to its robust analytics system and easy-to-use interface. Try it now if you haven’t already.
4. Wanderfly.com - This is a personalised recommendations engine that helps you discover new and exciting experiences based on your budget and interests. And, it integrates with Facebook to bring all of your social preferences together. This is a great example of niche recommendations portal and what Google+ is aiming to achieve on a wider scale. [See our one-year story on them here.]
3. YouTube.com/create - YouTube has been ramping up is creation tools in 2011 and the animation tools located at YouTube.com/create are a great example. GoAnimate is a great example allowing you to make animated videos in less than 10 minutes!
2. AppMakr.com - Talk about doing what it says on the tin! AppMakr helps you make free apps for the iPhone. Seriously cool.
1. BufferApp.com - It is now time to crown our most useful tool of 2011. BufferApp works by scheduling content you find online and adding into your Twitter or Facebook stream. It then publishes the tweets at regular intervals without flooding your followers. Pure genius.
Congratulations to our final five!

2011-12-18T12:08:00.001+02:00

This week at Microsoft: Xbox, Andy Lees, and Windows 8
Strap on your fedora, prepare the music, place your feet on the desk, and settle in for your roundup of TNW Microsoft’s favorite stories from the past week.
We’ve been doing this for so long now that we want to ask a question: Would you change the format of these posts? It’s the only post that we do on a regular basis, and if you have input, please do send in an email. We even promise to read it.
Now, make sure that you are following us on Twitter, and Facebook, and let’s jump into the news so that we can dive into the weekend.
Xbox: Sales Explosion The official numbers are out: Microsoft sold more than 1.7 million Xbox 360 consoles this November in the US alone. This figure is above analyst estimates, and set records for the brand. We continue to be surprised at the sales legs of the 360, given that its successor will show its face early next year and will likely be on sale in less than a year’s time.
Microsoft has put up a string of impressive numbers with the larger Xbox line recently, such as selling 750,000 Kinect sensors during the week that included Black Friday. The Xbox line, along with the Wii and the PS3, may be aging, but consumer demand remains sufficiently robust to propel each of the brands into the next year, and eventually to their next hardware installment.
In other news, the YouTube app for the Xbox is now live, if you are into such things.
Windows 8: The Ugly Edition Screenshots leaked this week that showed off the music player in Windows 8. It’s heinous. As we noted:
While the ‘Metro’ design theme that Windows 8 is set to embody has generally been met with positive reviews, it has always run the risk of being too flat, to square, and too dull. The music player that, according to recent leaks, is present in the current build of the operating system falls prey to each of those failings.
Think that we are being unfair? We aren’t. Look at this:
Andy Less Booted The head of Windows Phone was removed from his post, causing a stir, but it wasn’t known until recently if he had been promoted, or fired. It turns out to be the latter.
Due to what sources called OEM tensions and weak sales, Lees was removed and shunted over to an ephemeral role between Windows Phone and Windows 8. He was, to quote the sources, ‘benched.’ There was no immediate replacement for Lees, but Myerson, a long-time leader in the project, will tend the reins until something more formal is worked out.
This should have no negative short-term sales impact on Windows Phone itself, but it’s not exactly heartening.
SkyDrive Apps Good news Windows Phone and iOS users, Microsoft has released SkyDrive for your phone. Android users have to wait outside for the time being. This is what we are looking at: “The app itself allows for the full browsing of a user’s SkyDrive file contents, the sharing of SkyDrive folders with others, the creation and management of folders, and of course, the deleting of items that are no longer needed.”
Microsoft effectively just gave every iPhone user a fat chunk of free cloud storage. And who says that Microsoft is always evil?

2011-12-10T19:19:00.001+02:00

On Determinism - http://pulse.me/s/3Msir On Determinism

DECEMBER 5, 2011 BY SEAN : COSMIC VARIANCE

Back in 1814, Pierre-Simon Laplace was mulling over the implications of Newtonian mechanics, and realized something profound. If there were a vast intelligence — since dubbed Laplace’s Demon — that knew the exact state of the universe at any one moment, and knew all the laws of physics, and had arbitrarily large computational capacity, it could both predict the future and reconstruct the past with perfect accuracy. While this is a straightforward consequence of Newton’s theory, it seems to conflict with our intuitive notion of free will. Even if there is no such demon, presumably there is some particular state of the universe, which implies that the future is fixed by the present. What room, then, for free choice? What’s surprising is that we still don’t have a consensus answer to this question. Subsequent developments, most relevantly in the probabilistic nature of predictions in quantum mechanics, have muddied the waters more than clarifying them.

Massimo Pigliucci has written a primer for skeptics of determinism, in part spurred by reading (and taking issue with) Alex Rosenberg’s new book The Atheist’s Guide to Reality, which I mentioned here. And Jerry Coyne responds, mostly to say that none of this amounts to “free will” over and above the laws of physics. (Which is true, even if, as I’ll mention below, quantum indeterminacy can propagate upward to classical behavior.) I wanted to give my own two cents, partly as a physicist and partly as a guy who just can’t resist giving his two cents.

Echoing Massimo’s structure, here are some talking points:

* There are probably many notions of what determinism means, but let’s distinguish two. The crucial thing is that the universe can be divided up into different moments of time. (The division will generally be highly non-unique, but that’s okay.) Then we can call “global determinism” the claim that, if we know the exact state of the whole universe at one time, the future and past are completely determined. But we can also define “local determinism” to be the claim that, if we know the exact state of some part of the universe at one time, the future and past of a certain region of the universe (the “domain of dependence”) is completely determined. Both are reasonable and relevant.

* It makes sense to be interested, as Massimo seems to be, in whether or not the one true correct ultimate set of laws of physics are deterministic or not. He argues that we don’t know, and that’s obviously right, since we don’t know what the final theory is. But that’s a rather defeatist attitude all by itself; we can look at the theories we do understand and try to draw lessons from them.

* Classical mechanics, which you might have thought was deterministic if anything was, actually has some loopholes. We can think of certain situations where more than one future obeys the equations of motion starting from the same past. This is discussed a bit in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy article on causal determinism. But I personally don’t find the examples that impressive. For one thing, they are highly non-generic; you have to work really hard to find these kinds of solutions, and they certainly aren’t stable under small perturbations. More importantly, classical mechanics isn’t right; it’s just an approximation to quantum mechanics, and these finely-tuned classical solutions would be dramatically altered by quantum effects.

* General relativity is a classical theory, so it’s also not correct, but we don’t have the final theory of quantum gravity so it’s worth a look. As Massimo points out, there are good examples in GR where traditional global determinism breaks down; naked singularities would be an example. (Basically, determinism breaks down when information can in principle “flow in” from a singularity or boundary that isn’t included in “the whole universe at one moment of time.”) We might sidestep this problem by arguing that naked singularities aren’t physical, which is quite reasonable. But there are much more benign examples, such as anti-de Sitter space — a maximally symmetric spacetime with a negative cosmological constant. This universe has no singularities, but does have a boundary at infinity, so a single moment of time only determines part of the universe, not the whole thing. On the other hand, like the classical-mechanics examples alluded to above, this seems like a technicality that can be cleared up with a slight change of definition, e.g. by imposing some simple boundary condition at infinity.

Much more importantly, these kinds of GR phenomena are very far away from our everyday lives; there’s really no relevance to discussions of free will. GR violates global determinism in the strict sense, but certainly obeys local determinism; that’s all that should be required for this kind of discussion.

* Quantum mechanics is where things get interesting. When a quantum state is happily evolving along according to the Schrödinger equation, everything is perfectly deterministic; indeed, more so than classical mechanics, because the space of states (Hilbert space) doesn’t allow for the kind of non-generic funny business that let non-deterministic classical solutions sneak in. But when we make an observation, we are unable to deterministically predict what its outcome will be. (And Bell’s theorem at leasts suggests that this inability is not just because we’re not smart enough; we never will be able to make such predictions.) At this point, opinions become split about whether the loss of determinism is real, or merely apparent. This is a crucial question for both physicists and philosophers, but not directly relevant for the question of free will.

The traditional (“Copenhagen”) view is that QM is truly non-deterministic, and that probability plays a central role in the measurement process when wave functions collapse. Unfortunately, this process is extremely unsatisfying, not just because it runs contrary to our philosophical prejudices but because what counts as a “measurement” and the quantum/classical split are extremely ill-defined. Almost everyone agrees we should do better, despite the fact that we still teach this approach in textbooks. Someone like Tom Banks would try to eliminate the magical process of wave function collapse, but keep probability (and thus a loss of determinism) as a central feature. There is a whole school of thought along these lines, which treats the quantum state as a device for tracking probabilities; see this excellent post by Matt Leifer for more details.

The other way to go is many-worlds, which says that the ordinary deterministic evolution of the Schrödinger equation is all that ever happens. The problem there is comporting such a claim with the reality of our experience — we see Schrödinger’s cat to be alive or dead, not ever in a live/dead superposition as QM would seem to imply. The resolution is that “we” are not described by the entire quantum state; rather, we live in one branch of the wave function, which also includes numerous other branches where different outcomes were observed. This approach (which I favor) restores determinism at the level of the fundamental equations, but sacrifices it for the observational predictions made by real observers. If I were keeping a tally, I would certainly put this one in the non-determinism camp, for anyone interested in questions of free will.

* Then there is the question of whether or not the lack of determinism in QM plays any role at all in our everyday lives. When we flip a coin or play the lottery, one might think that the relevant probabilities are “purely classical” — i.e. they stem from our lack of knowledge about the state of the muscles and nerves in my hand and the wind and the coin that is about to be flipped, but if I knew all of those things I could make a perfectly deterministic prediction about what would happen to the coin. (Indeed, a well-trained magician can flip a coin and get whatever result they want.)

This is actually a tricky problem, to which the answers aren’t clear. Yes, there may be a level of classical description in terms of a probability distribution; but where does that probability distribution come from? Physicists disagree about whether or not quantum mechanics plays a crucial role here. Since I have friends in high places, this weekend I emailed Andy Albrecht, who answered and brought David Deutsch into the conversation. They both argue — plausibly, although I’m not really qualified to pass judgment — that essentially all classical probabilities can ultimately traced down to the quantum wave function. And indeed, that this reasoning provides the only sensible basis for talking about probabilities at all! (David mentions that Lev Vaidman seems to disagree, so it’s not uncontroversial by any means.) They are both, in other words, firmly anti-Bayesian in their view on probability. A good Bayesian thinks that probabilities are always statements about our fundamental ignorance concerning what is “really” going on. Albrecht and Deutsch would argue that’s not true, probabilities are ultimately always statements about the wave function of the universe. If they’re right — and again, it looks plausible, but I need to think about it more — then QM effects are indeed of crucial importance in accounting for our inability to predict the future in the everyday world.

* I should say something about chaos, which always comes up in these discussions. In classical mechanics, even when the underlying model is perfectly deterministic, it can often be the case that a small uncertainty in our knowledge of the initial state can lead to large uncertainty in the future/past evolution. (E.g. for the tumbling of Hyperion.) This is sometimes brought up as if it causes problems for determinism: “since tiny mistakes propagate, you couldn’t realistically predict the future anyway.” This is about as irrelevant as it is possible to be irrelevant. The Laplacian viewpoint was always that if you had perfect information, you could predict the past and future. But that was always a statement of principle, not of practice. Of course, in practice, you have nowhere near enough information to make the kinds of calculation that Laplace’s vast intellect likes to do. That was perfectly obvious long before the advent of chaos theory. The correct statement is “in a classical deterministic system, with perfect information and arbitrary computing power you can predict the future in principle, but not in practice,” and that statement is completely unaltered by an understanding of chaos.

So where does that leave us? My personal suspicion is that the ultimate laws of physics will embody something like the many-worlds philosophy: the underlying laws are perfectly deterministic, but what happens along any specific history is irreducibly probabilistic. (In a better understanding of quantum gravity, our notion of “time” might be altered, and therefore our notion of “determinism” might be affected; but I suspect that there will still be some underlying equations that are rigidly obeyed.) But that’s just a suspicion, not anything worth taking to the bank. For everyday-life purposes, we can’t get around the fact that quantum mechanics makes it impossible to predict the future robustly.

Of course, this is all utterly irrelevant for questions of free will. (I’m sure Massimo knows this, but he didn’t discuss it in his blog post.) We can imagine four different possibilities: determinism + free will, indeterminism + free will, determinism + no free will, and indeterminism + no free will. All of these are logically possible, and in fact beliefs that some people actually hold! Bringing determinism into discussions of free will is a red herring.

It matters, of course, how one defines “free will.” The usual strategy in these discussions is to pick your own definition, and then argue on that basis, no matter what definition is being used by the person you’re arguing with. It’s not a strategy that advances human knowledge, but it makes for an endless string of debates.

A better question is, if we choose to think of human beings as collections of atoms and particles evolving according to the laws of physics, is such a description accurate and complete? Or is there something about human consciousness — some strong sense of “free will” — that allows us to deviate from the predictions that such a purely mechanistic model would make?

If that’s your definition of free will, then it doesn’t matter whether the laws of physics are deterministic or not — all that matters is that there are laws. If the atoms and particles that make up human beings obey those laws, there is no free will in this strong sense; if there is such a notion of free will, the laws are violated. In particular, if you want to use the lack of determinism in quantum mechanics to make room for supra-physical human volition (or, for that matter, occasional interventions by God in the course of biological evolution, as Francis Collins believes), then let’s be clear: you are not making use of the rules of quantum mechanics, you are simply violating them. Quantum mechanics doesn’t say “we don’t know what’s going to happen, but maybe our ineffable spirit energies are secretly making the choices”; it says “the probability of an outcome is the modulus squared of the quantum amplitude,” full stop. Just because there are probabilities doesn’t mean there is room for free will in that sense.

On the other hand, if you use a weak sense of free will, along the lines of “a useful theory of macroscopic human behavior models people as rational agents capable of making choices,” then free will is completely compatible with the underlying laws of physics, whether they are deterministic or not. That is the (fairly standard) compatibilist position, as defended by me in Free Will is as Real as Baseball. I would argue that this is the most useful notion of free will, the one people have in mind as they contemplate whether to go right to law school or spend a year hiking through Europe. It is not so weak as to be tautological: we could imagine a universe in which there were simple robust future boundary conditions, such that a model of rational agents would not be sufficient to describe the world. E.g. a world in which there were accurate prophesies of the future: “You will grow up to marry a handsome prince.” (Like it or not.) For better or for worse, that’s not the world we live in. What happens to you in the future is a combination of choices you make and forces well beyond your control — make the best of it!

2011-11-30T10:12:00.001+02:00

Microsoft pokes the Yahoo acquisition fire again, signs non-disclosure agreement

Why iPhone Beats BlackBerry for Business | Cult of Mac

2011-11-20T09:49:00.000+02:00

Why iPhone Beats BlackBerry for Business | Cult of Mac

The Apple iPhone dominates the world of consumer smart phones, but is a bit of a laggard in the business market, right?

Wrong! It turns out that the opposite is true. Apple is in fact a relatively minor player in the global consumer smart phone market, but by far the dominant player in business.

According to Gartner, Android has 52.5% global smart phone market share, Symbian 16.9%, iOS 15%, BlackBerry 11%, Bada 2.2% and Microsoft 1.5%.

In business, however, the iPhone has recently emerged as the top market-share leader with 45%. To achieve this dominance, Apple recently edged out BlackBerry, which has now fallen to 32% of the market. Android gets 21%, recently surpassing Nokia.

To be accurate, these numbers are apples and oranges, so to speak. The Gartner numbers are for both consumer and business and worldwide, and the iPhone numbers are businesses worldwide.

Android’s big global consumer numbers and iPhone’s big business numbers say more about whose got money and who hasn’t than what people’s preferences would be if all phones were priced the same. The fact that very cheap Android phones exist in the world, but very cheap iPhones do not exist, explains much.

Still, it’s a shocking result that’s counter to the conventional wisdom.

Perhaps even more shocking is BlackBerry’s recent second-place status in businesses and enterprises to the iPhone. Business is all BlackBerry’s got. Yet iPhone clobbers RIM in this space now.

More to the point, how can a phone that supposedly ignores business concerns surpass a phone that’s totally designed for business in the business marketplace?

Here’s why iPhone beats BlackBerry in business.

Switching fruit

It’s hard even for me to believe now, but when the iPhone first came out in 2007, I was too enamored of my BlackBerry Pearl 8100 to get one.

I loved that phone. It was small, and… and… it was… It was really small. Unfortunately the screen was tiny, and the user interface was like something from the Spanish Inquisition.

(When the iPhone App Store hit, I embraced the iPhone and never looked back.)

As a BlackBerry fan who switched to Apple, I was a fruit-swopping trend-setter, though ahead of my time.

Gadgets-for-cash startup Gazelle described recently a trend among Blackberry users trading in their devices. The company says the main reason is the iPhone 4S.

And while Gazelle data may indicate that Apple is the culprit for killing BlackBerry, in fact Google has a hand in the demise as well. Not only has Google successfully developed a thriving app ecosystem like Apple has, and provides a compelling alternative, the company has also recently done something somewhat devastating to the BlackBerry’s reputation — they pulled the BlackBerry Gmail app. Of course, this isn’t the end of the world — or even the end of Gmail on BlackBerry. The mobile browser version is still there. But it highlights RIM’s continued loss of momentum.

OK, but why iPhone over BlackBerry?

One explanation for the rise in iPhones and fall of BlackBerrys is that companies are increasingly allowing employees to choose and buy their own phones, rather than buying company phones and issuing them to employees.

Related to that trend is a general move away from in-house, custom applications toward browser-based access and cloud computing. When data access is standardized, you don’t need a special application running on the client device and therefore there’s less incentive to force everyone to use the same phone.

And here’s another trend I haven’t seen anyone else suggest, but it’s one I’ve detected by talking to IT professionals — they love iPhones, too.

People who run IT departments at medium-sized companies tend to personally evaluate major handsets when they come out. They have budgets for buying boatloads of handsets to make sure everything works for mobile workers. A huge number of these professionals try iPhones, a large number of Android phones, BlackBerries and other major handsets. And after doing these evaluations, they tend to prefer iPhones for their personal handsets. These people are also major influencers within their companies, and they’re telling co-workers to buy iPhones because they believe it will reduce their own tech support burden.

I have no solid data to support this. But it appears to be a trend among the IT managers and CIOs I’ve talked to.

Another big problem with BlackBerry from a competitive standpoint is that its original claim to fame is no longer valid.

Years ago, BlackBerry was the best phone for typing messages. People texted and emailed like crazy from their BlackBerries. And people loved the wide handset with spacious physical keys.

Everybody caught up with BlackBerry on messaging services. Recently iMessage provided a superior alternative and Siri pounded the final nail in that coffin. And physical keyboards have generally fallen out of favor to make room for bigger and better screens.

It doesn’t help that RIM uses a proprietary network that goes down and causes regional blackouts from time to time.

For many users, the question isn’t why does iPhone beat BlackBerry, but why in the hell would anyone choose a BlackBerry at all?

Ultimately, it’s not all that complicated. The iPhone beats BlackBerry in business because business people are people, and people prefer iPhone.

What’s really changed is that the barriers to people choosing their own phones have gradually fallen away. And once given the chance, people are choosing iPhones.

2011-11-20T08:57:00.001+02:00

How Many Neutrinos Does It Take to Screw Up Einstein? - http://pulse.me/s/3hHix

2011-11-19T13:26:00.001+02:00

Sent from the CNN App for Android Google Music: iTunes for Android or more? http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/17/tech/web/google-music/index.html

a magazine is an ipad that does not work

2011-11-13T15:30:00.000+02:00

Google Reader (1000+)

2011-11-13T15:22:00.000+02:00

Google Reader (1000+)
Videos from our Setting Time Aright conference are gradually filtering online, courtesy of the Foundational Questions Institute. Perhaps the very first question that should be asked, of course, is whether the subject of the conference actually exists. So we recruited two well-known partisans on this issue to hash things out. Tim Maudlin is a philosopher of science who has argued forcefully that time is real — and furthermore that the arrow of time is an intrinsic part of reality, not just a byproduct of the low-entropy Big Bang. (Crazy talk.) Julian Barbour is a physicist who is well known for arguing that time doesn’t really exist, we can happily eliminate it from all of our equations of physics. (Even crazier.)

So we asked them to go at it, with a twist: here Tim defends the proposition that time doesn’t exist, while Julian argues that it is real. I was not the only one to conclude that these guys were just as good at arguing this side as the one they actually believed

Alexander Howard: Apps for Entrepreneurs Looks to Accelerate Startups With Open Data

2011-11-13T11:36:00.002+02:00

Alexander Howard: Apps for Entrepreneurs Looks to Accelerate Startups With Open Data

If you're a developer or entrepreneur and want to help others in that space, you may find a new challenge of interest: Apps for Entrepreneurs.

If you're unfamiliar with the idea of challenges, read up on collaborative innovation in open government. The big question that such contests are helping to answer is whether the vision of participatory democracy outlined by Thomas Jefferson, where citizens collaborate with government to solve the nation's most difficult problems, can be updated to the 21st century. Over the last year, agencies have been trying to crowdsource their way out of problems. Now, the Small Business Administration is trying the mechanism.

"The goal of the Apps for Entrepreneurs is to give small businesses and entrepreneurs those better tools through this challenge format," Ahson Wardak, senior advisor within the Investment Division at the Small Business Administration, told me via email.

"For most entrepreneurs and small businesses, the federal government has useful programs and services, but it can be hard to identify, engage and navigate federal websites," he wrote. "Often, small businesses do not know that the Federal government already offers a program that they would find useful. Entrepreneurs and small businesses need better tools to navigate the federal government's vast resources -- including programs, services, and procurement opportunities."

The short video embedded below explains more.:

Apps for Entreprenuers from iStrategyLabs on Vimeo.

Here's the raw material for developers to use in the challenge:

Datasets at http://sba.gov/api include a loan and grants search API and a city/county-level government website catalog.

Datasets at http://sbir.gov/api and http://green.sba.gov/api include SBIR award data, SBIR solicitation data, SBA program catalogue, SBA office locations, and "green" government opportunities

The challenge opened on November 5 and closes on November 20, so you've got another week to get cracking. Full disclosure: I'm one of the judges, so I'm hoping to see some great entries.

Marianne Abib-Pech: World Entrepreneurship Forum - A Catalyst For a Better World?

2011-11-12T11:22:00.000+02:00

Marianne Abib-Pech: World Entrepreneurship Forum - A Catalyst For a Better World?
While the economic world and media are focused on the European mayhem, no one is looking at an oozing-with-confidence Asia.

While everyone is agonising and - it has to be said - speculating over the burning question of the future of the European Union, the resolution to Greece's debt crisis or even Berlusconi's fight with the Italian parliament...well, we know how that one ended this week. Arrivederci Silvio! Simultaneously, though, 120 high-energy, high-powered individuals on the other side of the world were working to change and, I believe, save the economy. While politicians endlessly debated the best course of action for solving the European and world disarray, 120 individuals stood up and started on it.

The fourth World Entrepreneurship Forum ended last Saturday in Singapore. Designed to discover what is needed to re-kindle, empower and sustain entrepreneurial spirits across the globe, it is a completely unique event.

Over three intense days, the Singapore Shangri La Hotel's conference rooms, break rooms and coffee lounges saw an incredible buzz of energy and enthusiasm...far away from the doom and gloom of the European Union.

The corridors were humming with words such as action, commitment, tangibility, global impact, social impact, in stark opposition to the all talk, no action politicians.

To put it bluntly, for every entrepreneur, three to five jobs are created - the Holy Grail for every economy.

More importantly, every entrepreneur is a new model to inspire youth potentially lost and scared about their futures. Reading Dear Lucy's answer to a distressed mother wondering "how do I help my job seeking daughter" in the 9 November Financial Times, I could not help but think: entrepreneurship is the future.

Yes, there is entrepreneurship rooted in necessity - as practiced by Ning Li, founder of Made.com, the fastest growing on-line private furniture maker. But I also mean entrepreneurship founded on real market opportunities, as highlighted at the Forum by Nigerian entrepreneur Ini Oruk, founder of Thistle Praxis, a consulting company specialised in developing Social Performance & CSR frameworks for African corporations. We will need to consider potential social reforms, or fiscal reform, or even cultural change to make it happen. We'll need to reflect on vocational education, national frontiers and to re-invent ourselves. These were my key takeways from the World Entrepreneurship Forum.

Beyond practical policy and business advice, however, what resonated for me at the Forum was the human element. The sense of a global community learning and sharing with each other. A community committed to acting and working together to achieve a sustainable economy.

What was impressive was the sense of commitment towards the future and future generations, rooted in actions and mutual future commitments.

What was innovative was reconciling wealth with social justice. As Guillaume Gauthereau, founder of Totsy.com, elegantly put it: "It is time to recalibrate richness and build an ethical and balanced society, to pair money and wealth with values and an ability to make this world a better place."

What was inspiring was listening to Geneviève Morand from Rezonance speaking passionately about "receptivity and transmission about building business on networks, value and mutual aid."

I think this is what was truly innovative and enlightening about the Forum. Perhaps the call for change is not about entrepreneurship and action, but is instead more profound.

Maybe the true call for change is to move away from a process and money-oriented world towards a purpose-driven world, one with human values and more social equality. Could entrepreneurship act as a catalyst? A vast question yet to be explored.

As of today, I would like to say thank you to the founders of the World Entrepreneurship Forum - the Ecole de Management de Lyon, KPMG, and Nanyang Technological University, for their courage and their vision. Most importantly, thank you to the 120 individuals that left their own ventures for four days, showed up and made a stand.

kathimerini.gr | Η νέα έκδοση των Windows Phone 7.5 Mango διαθέσιμη για τους συνδρομητές Vodafone

2011-11-12T10:57:00.000+02:00

kathimerini.gr | Η νέα έκδοση των Windows Phone 7.5 Mango διαθέσιμη για τους συνδρομητές Vodafone

Η Vodafone και η Microsoft, ένα χρόνο μετά από τη διάθεση των πρώτων Windows Phone 7, ανακοίνωσαν την νέα έκδοση Windows Phone 7.5 γνωστή και ως Mango, για τα αποκλειστικά Smartphones της Vodafone, HTC 7 Trophy και LG Optimus 7.

Η έκδοση Windows Phone 7.5 αποτελεί την πρώτη σημαντική έκδοση από την ανακοίνωση του πρώτου Windows Phone 7 και προσφέρει εκατοντάδες νέες δυνατότητες και εφαρμογές που κάνουν την εμπειρία χρήσης μοναδική. Με το νέο λειτουργικό σύστημα της Microsoft, ο χρήστης απολαμβάνει με multitasking, πιο ολοκληρωμένες εφαρμογές, βελτιωμένη περιήγηση στο Internet, καθώς και εξατομικευμένα εργαλεία, όπως η ενοποίηση των πολλαπλών εφαρμογών κοινωνικής δικτύωσης, για την αποτελεσματικότερη σύνδεση με όλες τις επαφές του.

H νέα αυτή έκδοση αρχικά θα είναι διαθέσιμη για τους υπάρχοντες κατόχους Smartphones με Windows Phone 7 και στη συνέχεια θα διατεθεί μέσα από μία νέα σειρά Smartphones με προεγκατεστημένο το νέο λειτουργικό Windows Phone 7.5.

Οι υπάρχοντες κάτοχοι θα ενημερωθούν σταδιακά από την Microsoft λαμβάνοντας ενημέρωση στο κινητό τους τηλέφωνο για τη νέα έκδοση λογισμικού. Η αναβάθμιση θα γίνεται μέσω υπολογιστή και απαιτεί την ύπαρξη του προγράμματος Zune.

kathimerini.gr | Αφρική: Η ταχύτερα αναπτυσσόμενη αγορά κινητής τηλεφωνίας

2011-11-12T10:55:00.000+02:00

kathimerini.gr | Αφρική: Η ταχύτερα αναπτυσσόμενη αγορά κινητής τηλεφωνίας
Ως την ταχύτερα αναπτυσσόμενη αγορά κινητής τηλεφωνίας στον κόσμο χαρακτηρίζει την Αφρική έκθεση της διεθνούς οργάνωσης κατασκευαστών κινητών GSMA, που επισημαίνει τις καινοτόμες χρήσεις των κινητών στην ήπειρο.

Παράδειγμα της τάσης αυτής αποτελεί η 24χρονη Κενυάτισα Γερτρούδη Κιτόνγκο, που χρησιμοποιεί το κινητό της για ραδιόφωνο, βιβλιοθήκη, μίνι κινηματογράφο, συσκευή λήψης μηνυμάτων και τραπεζικό μηχάνημα. «Χρησιμοποιώ το τηλέφωνό μου για όλες μου τις δουλειές», λέει η Κιτόνγκο.

Η διείσδυση της κινητής τηλεφωνίας στην Αφρική έχει φθάσει τα 649 εκατομμύρια συνδέσεις, δεύτερη μετά την Ασία, ενώ τα τελευταία πέντε χρόνια, ο αριθμός συνδρομητών σε όλη την Αφρική έχει αυξηθεί κατά 20% και εκτιμάται να φθάσει στους 738 συνδρομητές μέχρι το τέλος του 2012.

Ερευνητές έχουν αξιοποιήσει τα κινητά για να καταγράψουν τις κινήσεις άγριων ζώων για μελέτες, ενώ Αφρικανοί πολίτες αξιοποιούν τα κινητά τους για να πραγματοποιήσουν χρηματικά εμβάσματα σε άλλες χώρες. Η Κιτόνγκο, που διαμένει στη Νότια Αφρική και σπουδάζει σε οικονομικό πανεπιστήμιο της χώρας, λέει ότι θεωρεί αναγκαίο το κινητό της, που της επιτρέπει να μένει συνδεδεμένη με τα αγαπημένα της πρόσωπα πίσω στην Κένυα. Από τη συσκευή της «κατεβάζει» ταινίες και διαχειρίζεται τον τραπεζικό της λογαριασμό.

Σύμφωνα με τον ειδικό της GSMA, Πίτερ Λάιονς, η έλλειψη αξιόπιστων τηλεπικοινωνιακών υποδομών στην αφρικανική ήπειρο υποχρέωσε τους πολίτες να καινοτομήσουν και να εκμεταλλευθούν κάθε πτυχή της κινητής τηλεφωνίας.

Στην Κένυα, η πραγματοποίηση τραπεζικών συναλλαγών μέσω κινητών τηλεφώνων έχει καταστεί ιδιαίτερα δημοφιλής, καθώς επιτρέπει την άμεση μεταφορά χρηματικών ποσών μεταξύ λογαριασμών και φυσικών προσώπων. Την ίδια στιγμή, η βελτίωση των μεταφορικών και τηλεπικοινωνιακών υποδομών στην Αφρική αναμένεται να ευνοήσει την οικονομική δραστηριότητα, καθώς και τη χρήση κινητών τηλεφώνων.

Σύμφωνα με τον κ. Λάιονς, περισσότεροι από 5,5 εκατ. Αφρικανοί απασχολούνται στον τομέα της κινητής τηλεφωνίας.

Stephen D. Houck: Search, Innovation, and Antitrust

2011-11-11T09:23:00.000+02:00

Stephen D. Houck: Search, Innovation, and Antitrust
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The core premise of antitrust law is that the best way to help consumers is through competition -- far better than through government intervention in the marketplace. Innovation is highly valued not only because it leads to new products and increased economic activity, but because it is an important means of competition in its own right. Innovation puts pressure on all competitors to improve their products and price them fairly.

Two main principles emerge from antitrust cases dealing with innovation. The first is that courts give considerable deference to innovators. That's because the courts recognize that progress is impossible without innovation and that innovation is a difficult, risky process -- one that the law should nurture, not discourage. Judges know that they are not well-equipped to second guess decisions about technology and product design.

The second principle that emerges from the cases is a healthy skepticism about complaints made by competitors. That's because the courts recognize that the interests of competitors and consumers are not necessarily aligned. On the contrary, innovations -- particularly those most attractive to consumers -- can make life difficult for competitors.

It would be bad public policy to constrain innovation because competitors have a hard time keeping up. And it would be really bad public policy to prevent a company from trying to make its products better simply because that might hurt a competitor's business. As the courts frequently say, the goal of antitrust law is to protect competition, not competitors.

In the 1960's and 70's, there were a number of challenges to IBM's dominance of the computer industry. The challenges were unsuccessful because the courts said that IBM was free to alter its products even though other businesses might be hurt as a result. For example, in a case brought by IBM's competitor Calcomp, the federal appeals court in California said: "IBM ... had the right to redesign its products to make them more attractive to buyers ... It was under no duty to help [its competitors] survive or expand."

Similarly in the 1970's and 80's, there were a number of unsuccessful challenges to Kodak's dominance of the photography industry. In a case brought by Kodak's competitor Berkey Photo, the federal appeals court in New York stated: "Even a monopolist ... must generally be responsive to the demands of consumers, for if it persistently markets unappealing goods, it will invite loss of sales ... If a monopolist's products gain acceptance in the marketplace, therefore, it is of no importance that a judge or jury may later regard them as inferior, so long as that success was not based on any form of coercion."

Neither IBM nor Kodak is dominant any longer. Each lost its position as the result of the normal give and take of the marketplace -- without government regulation or intervention of any kind. IBM failed to recognize the importance of the PC operating system and mistakenly -- very mistakenly -- ceded that market to Microsoft. Kodak, now on the verge of bankruptcy, failed to appreciate the shift in consumer preference from film to digital photography.

Google is no less susceptible to the impact of market forces. It didn't even become public until 2004 and is much less established than IBM and Kodak were when they were the subject of antitrust challenges. Google succeeded by displacing existing search engines with many more users -- like Yahoo and Lycos -- for one reason: it had a superior product.

Without the freedom to improve its products through innovation, Google too will wither and eventually die. It will lose market share rapidly if consumers believe there are better means to get the information they want -- whether by using other search engines like Bing, social networks like Facebook and Twitter, or entirely new products like Apple's voice-activated Siri. It is even easier for Google's users to switch to other products than it was for IBM's and Kodak's customers. Not only are there numerous alternatives readily available on the Internet free of charge, but many consumers already have them installed on their PCs and other devices.

Google's critics are urging antitrust enforcers to prevent it from adding new features like Local and Product Search based on a misplaced concern about the impact on other businesses. But preventing Google from giving users what they want -- through features similar to those provided by its competitors -- is bad antitrust policy. It also illustrates how government meddling in the marketplace, even though well-intentioned, can lead to results that are profoundly anti-consumer.

A number of courts, from New York to Ohio to California, have already dismissed antitrust lawsuits brought against Google by its competitors. The courts have set a very high bar before they will take the extraordinary step of mandating government intervention in the market -- particularly government intervention that could have a negative effect on innovation.

"three things"

2011-10-23T03:35:00.003+03:00

The magic sauce

2011-10-23T03:29:00.000+03:00

Key points of the book : WIKINOMICS "How mass Collaboration Changes Everything" by Don Tapscott & Anthony D. Williams

2011-10-23T01:40:00.001+03:00

e-Newsletter September 2011: Coaching Others: Use Active Listening Skills - Center for Creative Leadership

2011-09-29T01:27:00.000+03:00

e-Newsletter September 2011: Coaching Others: Use Active Listening Skills - Center for Creative Leadership

3M’s Open Innovation

2011-09-26T18:54:00.000+03:00

3M’s Open Innovation
As part of Booz & Company’s annual study of the innovation strategies of the world’s highest-spending companies on R&D, the firm conducted a survey that asked senior innovation executives to vote for the world’s most innovative company. (See “The Global Innovation 1000: How the Top Innovators Keep Winning,” by Barry Jaruzelski and Kevin Dehoff, s+b, Winter 2010.) The third most frequently cited innovation leader was 3M, right behind Apple and Google. That came as no surprise, given 3M’s track record of developing smart, successful new products.

3M’s ability to keep churning out new innovations is very much dependent on the company’s long-standing commitment to open innovation, both internal and external. We recently spoke with Fred J. Palensky, 3M’s chief technology officer, who discussed the many ways his company creates and develops ideas through open innovation, and explained why its highly collaborative culture and innovation leadership are essential to the process.

S+B: Can you describe how 3M’s open innovation processes are organized?
PALENSKY: The reason 3M is what it is today — a company that has developed organically across consumer, electronic, transportation, industrial, safety, security and display, and electronic markets — is our shared, leveraged technology and innovation model. We assume that technologies and technological capabilities have no boundaries or barriers. Any product or manufacturing technology is available to any business in any industry in any geography around the world.

As the company’s senior technology executive, I’m responsible for the corporate research laboratories. I represent the entire technical community at 3M, which includes about 10,000 R&D people in 73 labs around the world. About 15 to 20 percent of those people work in corporate research, which is responsible for developing, transmitting, and supporting technologies throughout the company. I also head up the corporate technical operations committee, or CTOC, which ensures the development, health, sustainability, and transmission of 3M’s tech capabilities across all the businesses, geographies, and industries in which we operate.

We have 63 full-scale operating businesses in dozens of industries in more than 70 countries around the world. Each one of those businesses conducts its own research, while maintaining connections with all the other R&D operations throughout the company.

S+B: What enables the cross-pollination of ideas?
PALENSKY: We believe that no one business has everything it needs to conduct business in its marketplace without leveraging the rest of the company. So every single technical employee in the company has dual citizenship — they’re part of a particular business, lab, or country, and part of the 3M global technical community. We don’t restrict people from moving from one business to another, from one industry to another, or across country boundaries. Most of the people who run the businesses, the country offices, and the labs have been in five or six or 10 different parts of the company before. They’ve grown up inside the 3M culture. I myself have been at 3M for 34 years, and I’ve had 14 different jobs in five different industries and three different countries. I like to think of it as a movement of people and ideas that’s not mandated but officially endorsed.

S+B: 3M also has an active external open innovation program. Can you describe it?
PALENSKY: Our corporate labs are continually bringing in new employees and technologies from universities and other sources. And we collaborate closely with customers. We have 30 customer technology centers around the world, where our technical and marketing employees meet with customers and expose them to the full range of 3M technology platforms. We ask them what their technical issues, problems, and opportunities are, and whether any of 3M’s many different technologies can help them. The constant technical interaction is critical in creating new innovations.

What is innovation?

2011-09-26T18:08:00.000+03:00

disruptive innovation

2011-09-26T18:00:00.000+03:00

Brad Feld: Don't Do Marketing. Become A Thought Leader.

2011-09-24T11:40:00.001+03:00

Brad Feld: Don't Do Marketing. Become A Thought Leader.

One of the jokes in my little universe is that "every time I hear the word 'marketing' I throw up a little in my mouth." I've been joking about this long enough that it's become conventional wisdom that I hate marketing. Yet, if you look at many of our successful investments, they are extraordinarily good at marketing and some people suggest we (Foundry Group, me) are also good at marketing.

Thirty minutes ago, Chris Moody - a long time friend and COO of Gnip - sent me an extremely thoughtful email titled "Food For Thought". I read it, thought it was 100% correct, and asked if I could reblog it verbatim both as (a) an explanation of how I actually should / do think about marketing and (b) an example of how I learn through direct feedback.

Chris - thanks for taking the time to write this. You nailed it. The way I articulate how I think about marketing will be permanently different going forward.

At this point I've probably heard/read most of your basic philosophical points on the various aspects of building a successful business. I agree with most of them of course. However, there is one area where I've consistently felt that you have under represented your true feelings and it feels like your general input on the topic has been mostly nonconstructive. I'd like to try to help change that for the good of the broader entrepreneur community (and to make you look even smarter).

The topic is marketing. I have no doubt missed some brilliant thoughts you've offered to the community and I'm sure you've provided countless pieces of good advice to individual entrepreneurs in one-on-one situations. But, the sound bite version I've heard from you on a few occasions goes something like this "I hate traditional marketing. Focus on building a great product or all the marketing in the world won't matter." When I think about the first time entrepreneur, this response feels particularly unhelpful. And, the second part of the quote could be applied to almost all aspects of a startup business including sales, finance, etc. If you don't have a great product, none of the other shit matters.

And yet, when I see how Foundry Group approaches marketing and when I look across your portfolio companies, I see a very common thread around how you guys approach marketing. I would characterize the theme as "marketing through thought leadership." In more basic terms it is expressing marketing ideas via "this is why we are doing what we are doing and why it is important" instead of "hey, look at me." Have a new product feature? Sure blog about the feature, but spend way more time on why the feature is important to your overall purpose and beliefs.

To illustrate the point, I've recently talked to/interviewed a few current/former people from Rally and ReturnPath. When I ask them "what is the most significant thing you did from a marketing perspective to accelerate the business" the answer across the board has been "we focused on being a thought leader in our space." As you well know that is the same approach we are taking at Gnip and I see it in many of your other portfolio companies too. Not sure it is always a conscience effort by the companies, but it seems to be pretty consistent across the portfolio..

When I think about FG itself I see tons of "marketing activity" but most of it could also be just be labeled: thought leadership. You sponsor conferences around topics that you care about. Your blog post are rich with "here's why did it and why it matters" instead of "here's what we did". In fact, your whole theme based approach is really about thought leadership focused in a few areas. Foundry Group clearly believes that startups have the power to change the world. You guys spend countless time and effort expressing your opinions on this topic. You write books to support your beliefs. If you only talked about what you do with your startups "we invested in x, we sold y", the conversation would be short and have a limited audience. Instead, you talk about what you believe and why startups matter. As a result, you have built a real following around people that care about the topic.

If I were going to create the Brad Feld sound bite for Marketing it would go something like this "Don't do marketing. Focus on becoming a thought leader in your space. Talk everyday with your customers, perspective customers, partners, and the world about why you do what you do and why you think it is important. The reality is you can only talk about what you do one or two times before people think 'got it' and stop listening. But, if you talk about what you believe and point to countless examples that exemplify your beliefs, you can build real engagement with people who care/believe the same things."

Not trying to put words in your mouth. Just saying that the actions that I see don't match the words that I hear and I think there is easy opportunity to change that for the better.

Ann Pettifor: Greece as Whipping Boy for 'Troika' Bullies

2011-09-24T11:33:00.000+03:00

Ann Pettifor: Greece as Whipping Boy for 'Troika' Bullies

As mayhem breaks out on stock markets; as Eurozone banks freeze up; and as the global financial system approaches a frightening 'danger zone,' the champions of the globalised 'free market' and of the Euro are in search of a scapegoat.

Instead of accepting that it is the broken banking system; the de-regulated financial Eurozone, and the deflationary monetarist policies of the Maastricht Treaty that are the roots of the crisis, the Troika (the IMF/EU/ECB) want to identify a convenient whipping boy.

Instead of going after the real culprits -- un-regulated bankers that lent recklessly, confident they would always be bailed out by taxpayers -- the approach of the Troika is to scapegoat Greece. The implication is that the whole fabric of the Euro, and with it the global economy, is torn apart because one poor country, Greece, will not enforce ever-deeper austerity on her people.

Let's get this straight. The Greek economy -- and with it the Euro -- is disintegrating because Greek politicians are implementing austerity, not because they are failing to.

As one of the poorest of the Eurozone economies, Greece was always the most vulnerable to the global financial crisis. The 'Troika' can build a credible case that Greece's politicians should not have borrowed from the private bankers of Europe, and therefore Greeks share responsibility for the debt.

But Greece was only able to borrow because, with the help of Goldman Sachs, she was welcomed by Europe's bankers and leaders into the pre-existing de-regulated, financial framework that is the Eurozone. A monetary union designed above all to promote, protect and subsidise the interests of money-lenders and speculators in the private bank-debt and sovereign debt markets.

Greece's entry into the Eurozone was of course a mistake. But the idea that Greece has misbehaved to an extent that deems her responsible for destroying the European and global financial fabric is, frankly, absurd.

The fact is Greece and Greece's debt is a symptom of the crisis, not the cause.

That is why the spectacle of the IMF's representative Bob Traa hectoring Greeks this week was both hypocritical and spurious.

All unbiased persons of common sense recognise that more austerity -- more unemployment, poverty, suicides, family breakdown, civil unrest -- will crush Greece. It does not require a PhD from Harvard to work that out. Last year Greece's GDP declined by 4.4%, according to the IMF. So far this year GDP has plunged by a further 7.3%, according to official statistics.

That is why the IMF's call for "a reinvigoration of structural reforms" is so profoundly irrational and self-serving.

Who believes that declining economic activity in Greece can save both her economy, the bankrupt European banking system and the Euro?

No sane person can believe that sacking 100,000 civil servants in a single year, increasing taxes on fuel, lowering the tax threshold so that the poorest Greeks pay for this crisis, cutting back on wages and old peoples' pensions -- will a) repay debts b) re-capitalise banks and c) lead to economic recovery.

Instead, these policies will trigger wider social unrest and the inevitable default -- sooner rather than later. And a Greek default, accompanied by social upheaval will be contagious, making things much, much worse for Europe as a whole.

So stop whipping Greece.

As we at PRIME have repeatedly pointed out, austerity policies pose a grave threat to a global financial system over-burdened by the debts generated by an out-of-control banking system.

The Troika seem unable to acknowledge that austerity is the wrong remedy for another crisis; the crisis of a bankrupt banking system broken on the back of de-regulated finance.

To address that crisis, the Troika must manage the write-down and write-off of unpayable private and sovereign debts in an orderly manner. This they refuse to do.

Instead their approach is that the private banking system must be protected from losses (and the discipline of the market) -- at all costs.

By this approach they are failing the people of Europe, as well as Greece: throwing good money after bad.

It is the failure of the Troika to extend their focus beyond the narrow interests of the private, wealthy banking elite of Europe -- and towards the interests of all Europeans -- that is causing economic failure.

Above all it is the failure of the Troika to promote policies in Europe that would create and increase employment -- in Greece and throughout the Eurozone.

For employment is the only way to raise the income (and tax revenues) needed to repay debts; and to restore the economy and the public finances (of Greece and other countries) to health.

Because the IMF, EU politicians and ECB bankers cannot accept or implement these self-evident remedies, the people of Greece are well advised to go it alone; to default and escape the clutches of politicians and officials determined to strangle all possibility of economic recovery.

Others have gone before -- and recovered: Russia in 1998; Argentina in 2001 and Iceland in 2008 -- after the biggest banking collapse in economic history.

Greece has only her austerity chains to lose.

kathimerini.gr | Νετρίνο εντοπίστηκαν να ταξιδεύουν ταχύτερα από το φως

2011-09-24T10:50:00.000+03:00

kathimerini.gr | Νετρίνο εντοπίστηκαν να ταξιδεύουν ταχύτερα από το φως
Νετρίνο εντοπίστηκαν να ταξιδεύουν ταχύτερα από το φως
Νετρίνο «αστραπή», απειλούν τον Αϊνστάιν και τη σύγχρονη φυσική.

Μεγάλη αναστάτωση έχει προκαλέσει στην επιστημονική κοινότητα η ανακοίνωση Ευρωπαίων φυσικών ότι εντόπισαν υποατομικά σωματίδια (νετρίνο) που φαίνεται να σπάνε το ρεκόρ ταχύτητας στο σύμπαν, ταξιδεύοντας ταχύτερα και από το φως. Αν αυτό επιβεβαιωθεί -προς το παρόν υπάρχουν επιφυλάξεις- τότε απειλείται όχι μόνο η θεωρία του Άλμπερτ Αϊνστάιν, αλλά και όλο το οικοδόμημα της σύγχρονης Φυσικής, αν όχι ο τρόπος που βλέπουμε τον κόσμο, ενώ μπορεί να ανοίξει ο δρόμος για ταξίδια στον χρόνο, ακόμα και στο παρελθόν.

Η θεωρία της ειδικής σχετικότητας από το 1905 -ο ακρογωνιαίος λίθος της Φυσικής- απαγορεύει οτιδήποτε να κινηθεί πιο γρήγορα από την ταχύτητα των 299.792.458 μέτρων ανά δευτερόλεπτο του φωτός. Μέχρι τώρα καμία έρευνα δεν είχε βρει το παραμικρό μεγάλο σώμα ή μικροσκοπικό σωματίδιο να κινείται πιο γρήγορα από το φως.

Όμως, Ιταλοί φυσικοί του πειράματος «Opera», που πραγματοποιείται 1.400 μέτρα κάτω από το έδαφος, στο υπόγειο Εθνικό Εργαστήριο Γκραν Σάσο, σε συνεργασία με το Cern στα γαλλο-ελβετικά σύνορα, από όπου στέλνονται στην Ιταλία ακτίνες νετρίνο, βρήκαν ενδείξεις ότι τα συγκεκριμένα σωματίδια ταξιδεύουν ταχύτερα και από το φως, σύμφωνα με το BBC, το «Nature», τους «Τάιμς της Νέας Υόρκης» και τις βρετανικές «Γκάρντιαν» και «Τέλεγκραφ».

Τα νετρίνο είναι ηλεκτρικά ουδέτερα, σπανίως αλληλεπιδρούν με την κοινή ύλη (περνάνε μέσα από τοίχους και πλανήτες) κι έχουν πολύ μικρή μάζα, αλλά υπάρχουν ολόγυρά μας, καθώς αποτελούν υποπροϊόν των πυρηνικών αντιδράσεων στο εσωτερικό του ήλιου. Δισεκατομμύρια τέτοια υποατομικά σωματίδια περνάνε κάθε δευτερόλεπτο μπροστά από τα μάτια μας, χωρίς να το αντιλαμβανόμαστε.

Ο τεράστιος ανιχνευτής του πειράματος «Opera» (βάρους 1.800 τόννων) εκτίμησε ότι τα νετρίνο που καταλήγουν σε αυτόν από το Cern, διανύοντας μια απόσταση περίπου 732 χιλιομέτρων, φθάνουν 60 νανοδευτερόλεπτα πιο γρήγορα από ό,τι θα επέτρεπε η ταχύτητα του φωτός (δηλαδή κινούνται με ταχύτητα περίπου 0,0025% ταχύτερη από το φως).

«Είμαστε σοκαρισμένοι», δήλωσε ο Αντόνιο Ερεντιτάτο, φυσικός του πανεπιστημίου της Βέρνης, επικεφαλής και εκπρόσωπος του «Opera». «Αν είναι αλήθεια, τότε είναι πραγματικά εντυπωσιακό», δήλωσε ο φυσικός Τζον Έλις, εκπρόσωπος του Cern, αλλά τόνισε την ανάγκη να υπάρξει ανεξάρτητη επιβεβαίωση του γεγονότος.

Οι φυσικοί του «Opera» ανέφεραν ότι έχουν πλέον αρκετή εμπιστοσύνη στα στοιχεία τους για να τα δημοσιοποιήσουν, καθώς έχουν καταγράψει ίδια αποτελέσματα σε περίπου 16.000 μετρήσεις κατά την τελευταία διετία, συνεπώς δηλώνουν σίγουροι ότι δεν έχουν πέσει θύμα κάποιας πλάνης ή λάθους.

Είχε προηγηθεί ένα παρόμοιο πείραμα, το Minos στην Μινεσότα των ΗΠΑ, το 2007, όταν επίσης είχαν φανεί νετρίνο που κατέφθαναν από τον επιταχυντή Fermilab του Σικάγο, να κινούνται οριακά ταχύτερα από το φως, αλλά τότε υπήρχε μεγαλύτερη αβεβαιότητα για τις μετρήσεις. Όμως, οι αμερικανοί φυσικοί, ετοιμάζουν νέα πειράματα που αναμένεται να έχουν ευρήματα σε ένα - δύο χρόνια. Αν το Minos όντως επιβεβαιώσει τις μετρήσεις του «Opera», οι συνέπειες για τη φυσική και την επιστήμη γενικότερα θα είναι κολοσσιαίες.

Ορισμένοι, όπως ο επίτιμος καθηγητής φυσικής του πανεπιστημίου της Μπολόνια Αντονίνο Ζιτσίτσι, πιθανολογούν ότι τα νετρίνο κινούνται μέσα από έξτρα διαστάσεις στο χώρο, όπως προβλέπει η θεωρία των χορδών, για αυτό κινούνται ταχύτερα από το φως. Ίδια ακριβώς άποψη εξέφρασε και ο αστρονόμος νετρίνο Τζον Λέρντ του πανεπιστημίου της Χαβάης.

Άλλοι παραμένουν σκεπτικιστές και δεν βιάζονται να κάνουν τη νεκρολογία της θεωρίας του Αϊνστάιν, θεωρώντας ότι κάποιο πειραματικό λάθος έχει συμβεί. «Αν είναι αλήθεια, τότε πραγματικά δεν έχουμε καταλάβει τίποτε για τίποτε. Ακούγεται πολύ μεγάλο, για να είναι αληθινό», σχολίασε ο φυσικός Αλβάρο ντε Ρουχούλα του Cern.

Ο Ερεντιτάτο του «Opera» επιμένει πάντως ότι οι φυσικοί του πειράματος δεν έχουν μπορέσει να βρουν κάποια άλλη εξήγηση για τα απρόσμενα ευρήματά τους. Γι' αυτό κάλεσε την επιστημονική κοινότητα να εκφράσει τις δικές της απόψεις ανοιχτά.

www.kathimerini.gr με πληροφορίες από ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ

vizualize.me - Nikos 's profile

2011-09-21T11:33:00.000+03:00

vizualize.me - Nikos 's profile

New Android 3.1 – Faster Graphics, Great Flash, Smoother UI – Tablets That Rock

2011-09-18T12:45:00.005+03:00

The Webby Debates presented by Aquent: Apple vs. Android: The Future of Mobile (Complete Debate) - YouTube

2011-09-18T03:51:00.001+03:00

The Webby Debates presented by Aquent: Apple vs. Android: The Future of Mobile (Complete Debate) - YouTube

Windows 8 can boot in 8 seconds - Demo - YouTube

2011-09-16T10:54:00.002+03:00

Windows 8 can boot in 8 seconds - Demo - YouTube

kathimerini.gr | Οι αλγόριθμοι κοντά στην κυριαρχία του κόσμου

2011-08-26T20:20:00.000+03:00

Οι αλγόριθμοι κοντά στην κυριαρχία του κόσμου
Εάν περιμένετε κάποια προειδοποίηση ότι ο υπολογιστής σας έγινε επιτέλους πιο έξυπνος από εσάς, τότε σκεφτείτε το ξανά.

Μην περιμένετε έναν υπερυπολογιστή όπως στην ταινία «2001: Οδύσσεια του Διαστήματος» να σας πληροφορεί ότι οι υπηρεσίες μας ως άνθρωποι έχουν ξεπεραστεί.

Στην πραγματικότητα οι ηλεκτρονικοί ηγεμόνες μας έχουν ήδη πάρει τον έλεγχο και το κάνουν με έναν τρόπο πολύ πιο υπόγειο απ' ότι μας έχει δείξει σήμερα η επιστημονική φαντασία. Το όπλο που έχουν επιλέξει για να μας επιβληθούν είναι οι αλγόριθμοι.

Πίσω από κάθε «έξυπνη» υπηρεσία στο Διαδίκτυο βρίσκεται ένας ακόμη πιο «έξυπνος» κωδικός. Από τους απλούς υπολογισμούς που βρίσκουν ποια βιβλία και ταινίες θα μπορούσαν να μας ενδιαφέρουν έως τις υπηρεσίες ανεύρεσης φίλων στο Facebook και τις μηχανές αναζήτησης αυτός ο οδηγός είναι παντού γύρω μας στο Διαδίκτυο. Αυτοί οι αόρατοι υπολογισμοί είναι που αναλαμβάνουν ολοένα και περισσότερο τον έλεγχο στον τρόπο με τον οποίο αλληλεπιδρούμε με τον ηλεκτρονικό μας κόσμο.

Στην εκδήλωση του TEDGlobal που πραγματοποιήθηκε τον προηγούμενο μήνα, ο ειδικός στους αλγόριθμους Κέβιν Σλέιβιν προειδοποίησε ότι «τα μαθηματικά που χρησιμοποιούν οι υπολογιστές για να αποφασίζουν πάνω σε διάφορα θέματα» έχουν «διεισδύσει σε όλους τους τομείς της ζωής μας».

Ως παράδειγμα ανάφερε τα ρομπότ - καθαριστές που σχεδιάζουν τον καλύτερο δυνατό τρόπο για να κάνουν τις δουλειές του σπιτιού και τους διαδικτυακούς εμπορικούς αλγόριθμους που σιγά σιγά αποκτούν τον έλεγχο στη Wall Street. «Γράφουμε εκείνα τα πράγματα που δεν μπορούμε πλέον να διαβάσουμε» τόνισε ο κ. Σλέβιν και πρόσθεσε: «Καταστήσαμε κάτι δύσκολο να διαβάσουμε. Χάσαμε την αίσθηση του τι πραγματικά συμβαίνει σε αυτό τον κόσμο που κατασκευάσαμε».

«Μπορεί οι υπολογιστές να είναι πιο έξυπνοι από τους ανθρώπους ωστόσο δεν έχουν την ίδια αίσθηση της προοπτικής και αυτό έγινε σαφές στον κώδικα θέσπισης τιμών στην Amazon, ώστε ο κώδικας να κηρύξει πόλεμο στον εαυτό του, ένα επεισόδιο που συνέβη μόλις πριν λίγους μήνες» επεσήμανε ο κ. Σλέβιν.

Όσο περισσότερο εξελίσσεται ένας κώδικας, τόσο εξαπλώνεται σε όλους τους τομείς της ζωής μας, συμπεριλαμβανομένου των πολιτισμικών μας προτιμήσεων.

Ο αλγόριθμος που χρησιμοποιείται στην ιστοσελίδα Netflix, όπου νοικιάζονται ταινίες, είναι υπεύθυνος για το 60% των ενοικιάσεων, ενώ μειώνεται όλο και περισσότερο η κριτική μας ικανότητα και η διάδοση από στόμα σε στόμα αυτού του φαινομένου που ο κ. Σλέιβιν αποκαλεί «φυσική του πολιτισμού».

Η βρετανική εταιρεία Epagogix χρησιμοποιεί αυτή την ιδέα, αλγόριθμους που προβλέπουν ποια είναι η συνταγή μίας επιτυχημένης ταινίας.

Χρησιμοποιεί διάφορες μετρήσεις - το σενάριο, η πλοκή, οι σταρ και η τοποθεσία - τα αναμειγνύει και τα συγκρίνει με άλλες ταινίες που έχουν πετύχει και την πορεία τους στα ταμεία, προκειμένου να προβλέψει πόσα λεφτά θα βγάλει η ταινία.

Σύμφωνα με τον διευθυντή της Epagogix Νικ Μέινι, το σύστημα αυτό «βοήθησε τα στούντιο να αποφασίσουν αν θα κάνουν μία ταινία ή όχι».

Σε μία περίπτωση για μία ταινία με κόστος παραγωγής 180 εκατομμυρίων λιρών, ο αλγόριθμος προέβλεψε ότι θα έφερνε μόλις 30 εκατομμύρια λίρες στα ταμεία με αποτέλεσμα το πρότζεκτ να ακυρωθεί.

Για μία άλλη ταινία ο αλγόριθμος βρήκε ότι τα κέρδη θα ήταν τα ίδια εάν τον γυναικείο πρωταγωνιστικό ρόλο αναλάμβανε η ακριβοπληρωμένη σταρ ή μία απλή και πιο φθηνή ηθοποιός.

Είναι μία «κλινική» προσέγγιση για τη δημιουργία μίας ταινίας που ενόχλησε πολλούς που πιστεύουν ότι θα πρέπει να είναι μία πιο δημιουργική διαδικασία.

Η μυστική συνταγή

Ο πρώτος και μεγαλύτερος σταρ των αλγόριθμων είναι η Google. Ο διάσημος μυστικός κώδικας οδήγησε την εταιρεία στην πρωτιά και σήμερα είναι από τις πιο ισχυρές στον κόσμο.

Κανείς δεν αμφισβητεί ότι το σύστημα της εταιρείας έχει κάνει τη διαδικτυακή αναζήτηση πιο εύκολη, ωστόσο οι επικριτές αναρωτιούνται ποιο είναι το κόστος.

Στο βιβλίο του «Η φούσκα του φίλτραρίσματος», ο Έλι Παρίζερ αναρωτιέται σε ποιο βαθμό ο αλγόριθμος της Google έχει χρησιμοποιήσει τα προσωπικά μας δεδομένα προκειμένου να διαμορφώσει αυτό που βλέπουμε στο Διαδίκτυο σύμφωνα με τις προσωπικές μας προτιμήσεις.

Εν τω μεταξύ, μία πρόσφατη έρευνα ψυχολόγων στο Πανεπιστήμιο Κολούμπια υποδεικνύει ότι σταδιακά αλλάζει ο τρόπος που σκέφτονται οι άνθρωποι καθώς αυξάνεται η εξάρτησή μας από τις μηχανές αναζήτησης για να βρούμε μία απάντηση.

«Από τη δημιουργία των μηχανών αναζήτησης, έχουμε αναδιοργανώσει τον τρόπο με τον οποίο θυμόμαστε. Οι εγκέφαλοί μας βασίζονται στο Διαδίκτυο τη μνήμη τους με τον ίδιο τρόπο που βασίζονται στη μνήμη ενός φίλους, ενός συγγενή ή ενός συνεργάτη» αναφέρει η συγγραφέας της έκθεσης, Μπέτσι Σπάροου και υπογραμμίζει: «Όσο περνάει ο καιρός, γνωρίζουμε που μπορούμε να βρούμε πληροφορίες απ' ότι να τις διατηρούμε εμείς οι ίδιοι».

Αλλά και στις χρηματιστηριακές αγορές, ο κώδικας κυριαρχεί καθώς προσπαθούμε να ελέγξουμε τους αλγόριθμους που υπολογίζουν και αποφασίζουν τι να αγοράσουμε και τι όχι.

Σχεδόν το 70% των συναλλαγών στη Wall Street πραγματοποιούνται μέσω του «μαύρου κουτιού» ή αλλιώς των αλγοριθμικών συναλλαγών.

Αυτό σημαίνει ότι μαζί με τους χρηματιστές και τους τραπεζίτες εργάζονται πλέον χιλιάδες μαθηματικοί και φυσικοί.

Αλλά ακόμη και μία πρόβλεψη από έναν αλγόριθμο, που υποστηρίζεται σε κώδικες που δημιουργούν οι άνθρωποι, δεν εξασφαλίζουν ότι όλα θα κυλήσουν ομαλά.

Αυτό συνέβη στις 6 Μαΐου 2010 όταν στις 14:45 προκλήθηκε ένα ψηφιακό κραχ, που οδήγησε τις αγορές σε ελεύθερη πτώση για πέντε λεπτά και δημιουργώντας ένα προσωρινό χάος. Υπαίτιος ήταν ο αλγόριθμος που χρησιμοποιούσε ένας χρησιμοποιούσε ένας χρηματιστής. Ο αλγόριθμος πούλησε 75.000 μετοχές αξίας 2,6 δισεκ. Λιρών σε μόλις 20 λεπτά, προκαλώντας τους υπόλοιπους αλγόριθμους να ακολουθήσουν.

Οι αλγόριθμοι είναι σας τους χρηματιστές στη Wall Street τη δεκαετία του 1980 χωρίς όμως να έχουν απαιτήσεις σε μισθούς, δώρα και σαμπάνιες.

Στις ΗΠΑ η εταιρεία Spread Networks τοποθετεί ένα καλώδιο οπτικών ινών, που θα συνδέει το Σικάγο με τη Νέα Υόρκη (1327 χλμ.) και θα ελαττώσει το χρόνο των συναλλαγών κατά 3 δέκατα του δευτερολέπτου.

Εν τω μεταξύ, ετοιμάζεται και η σύνδεση οπτικών ινών μεταξύ της Νέας Σκωτίας στον Καναδά και του Σόμερσετ στη Βρετανία, που θα εξυπηρετεί τους αλγοριθμικούς χρηματιστές, οι οποίοι θα στέλνουν μετοχές από το Λονδίνο στη Νέα Υόρκη και πάλι πίσω σε μόλις 60 χιλιοστά του δευτερολέπτου.

Καθώς οι αλγόριθμοι εξαπλώνουν την επιρροή μας πέρα από τις μηχανές και διαμορφώνουν το περιβάλλον γύρω τους, ίσως έχει έρθει ο καιρός να μάθουμε πόσα ακριβώς γνωρίζουν και εάν έχουμε ακόμη τον χρόνο να τους τιθασεύουμε.

kathimerini.gr | Απομακρύνεται το ενδεχόμενο εντοπισμού του μποζονίου του Χιγκς

2011-08-26T20:12:00.000+03:00

kathimerini.gr | Απομακρύνεται το ενδεχόμενο εντοπισμού του μποζονίου του Χιγκς
Απομακρύνεται το ενδεχόμενο εντοπισμού του μποζονίου του Χιγκς
Διεθνής επιστημονική ομάδα, που προσπαθεί να επιλύσει το μεγαλύτερο αίνιγμα της Φυσικής, ανακοίνωσε ότι εξαφανίζονται οι ενδείξεις για την ύπαρξη του μυστηριώδους μποζονίου του Χιγκς. Το θεωρητικό σωματίδιο αυτό χαρακτηρίζεται «υπεύθυνο» για τη μάζα των αντικειμένων.

Τον περασμένο μήνα, ομάδα φυσικών είχε ανακοινώσει σε ευρωπαϊκό συνέδριο, ότι μεγάλο πείραμα είχε προσφέρει ενδείξεις ύπαρξης του Χιγκς-Μπόζον, όπως ονομάζεται το σωματίδιο. Το Χιγκς-Μπόζον ονομάζεται και «σωματίδιο του Θεού», λόγω του μυστηρίου που το καλύπτει, αλλά και γιατί -εφόσον υπάρχει- αποτελεί μία από τις σημαντικότερες φυσικές δυνάμεις. «Αυτή τη στιγμή, δεν μπορούμε να εντοπίσουμε στοιχεία για την ύπαρξη του Χιγκς», είπε ο φυσικός Χάουαρντ Γκόρντον, επικεφαλής του προγράμματος ATLAS. Το πρόγραμμα διαθέτει το μεγαλύτερο εργαστήριο επιτάχυνσης σωματιδίων στο Μεγάλο Επιταχυντή Αδρονίων (LHC) του ευρωπαϊκού κέντρου ερευνών CERN.

Οι φυσικοί, όμως, δεν είναι έτοιμοι να παραδώσουν τα όπλα.«Η πιθανότητα ύπαρξης του Χιγκς ήταν ούτως ή άλλως απομακρυσμένη, αλλά αυτή τη στιγμή δεν είμαστε ακόμη έτοιμοι να παραδεχθούμε την ήττα μας», λέει ο δρ. Γκόρντον.

«Οι επόμενοι δώδεκα μήνες θα οδηγήσουν σε αποκαλύψεις. Εάν το Χιγκς υπάρχει, τότε τα πειράματα του επιταχυντή στο CERN θα το δείξουν. Αν δεν υπάρχει, τότε η Φυσική θα μπορέσει να κινηθεί σε νέες κατευθύνσεις», είπε ο επικεφαλής ερευνών του CERN Σέρτζιο Μπερτολούτσι.

Marco Tempest: The magic of truth and lies (and iPods) - YouTube

2011-08-21T18:22:00.001+03:00

Marco Tempest: The magic of truth and lies (and iPods) - YouTube

What makes you curious? - Curiosity

2011-08-08T11:54:00.000+03:00

What makes you curious? - Curiosity

Curiosity "10 NASA Inventions You Might Use Every Day"

2011-08-08T11:48:00.000+03:00

Curiosity "10 NASA Inventions You Might Use Every Day"

Stephen Hawking : Discovery Channel

2011-08-08T11:46:00.000+03:00

Stephen Hawking : Discovery Channel

BBC News - 'Multiverse' theory suggested by microwave background

2011-08-08T11:38:00.000+03:00

BBC News - 'Multiverse' theory suggested by microwave background

'Multiverse' theory suggested by microwave background

By Jason Palmer Science and technology reporter, BBC News

The team has located possible "bubble universe" evidence in WMAP data

The idea that other universes - as well as our own - lie within "bubbles" of space and time has received a boost.

Studies of the low-temperature glow left from the Big Bang suggest that several of these "bubble universes" may have left marks on our own.

This "multiverse" idea is popular in modern physics, but experimental tests have been hard to come by.

The preliminary work, to be published in Physical Review D, will be firmed up using data from the Planck telescope.

For now, the team has worked with seven years' worth of data from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe, which measures in minute detail the cosmic microwave background (CMB) - the faint glow left from our Universe's formation.

'Mind-blowing'

The theory that invokes these bubble universes - a theory formally called "eternal inflation" - holds that such universes are popping into and out of existence and colliding all the time, with the space between them rapidly expanding - meaning that they are forever out of reach of one another.

But Hiranya Peiris, a cosmologist at University College London, and her colleagues have now worked out that when these universes are created adjacent to our own, they may leave a characteristic pattern in the CMB.

“Start Quote

It would be a pretty amazing thing to show that we have actually made physical contact in another universe”

George Efstathiou University of Cambridge

"I'd heard about this 'multiverse' for years and years, and I never took it seriously because I thought it's not testable," Dr Peiris told BBC News. "I was just amazed by the idea that you can test for all these other universes out there - it's just mind-blowing."

Dr Peiris' team first proposed these disc-shaped signatures in the CMB in a paper published in Physical Review Letters, and the new work fleshes out the idea, putting numbers to how many bubble universes we may be able to see now.

Crucially, they used a computer program that looked for these discs automatically - reducing the chance that one of the collaborators would see the expected shape in the data when it was not in fact there.

The program found four particular areas that look likely to be signatures of the bubble universes - where the bubbles were 10 times more likely than the standard theory to explain the variations that the team saw in the CMB.

However, Dr Peiris stressed that the four regions were "not at a high statistical significance" - that more data would be needed to be assured of the existence of the "multiverse".

"Finding just four patches is not necessarily going to give you a good probability on the full sky," she explained to BBC News. "That's not statistically strong enough to either rule it out or to say that there is a collision."

Dr Peiris said that data from the Planck telescope - a next-generation space telescope designed to study the CMB with far greater sensitivity - would put the idea on a firmer footing, or refute it. However, the data from Planck cannot be discussed publicly before January 2013.

Data from the Planck telescope should resolve the question once and for all

George Efstathiou, director of the Kavli Institute of Cosmology at the University of Cambridge, called the work "the first serious attempt to search for something like this... from the methodology point of view it's interesting".

He noted that the theories that invoked the multiverse were fraught with problems, because they dealt in so many intangible or immeasurable quantities.

"My own personal view is that it will need new physics to solve this problem," he told BBC News. "But just because there are profound theory difficulties doesn't mean one shouldn't take the picture seriously."

Dr Peiris said that even if these bubble universes were confirmed, we could never learn anything further about them.

"It would be wonderful to be able to go outside our bubble, but it's not going to be possible," she explained.

"They're born close together - that's when the collision happens - and this same inflation happens between the bubbles. They're being hurled apart and space-time is expanding faster than light between them."

But Professor Efstathiou said the search was inherently worth it. He explained: "It would be a pretty amazing thing to show that we have actually made physical contact in another universe. It's a long shot, but it would be very profound for physics."

kathimerini.gr - Λεπτή ζώνη αντιύλης ανακαλύφθηκε γύρω από τη Γη

2011-08-08T11:26:00.000+03:00

kathimerini.gr - Λεπτή ζώνη αντιύλης ανακαλύφθηκε γύρω από τη Γη

Λεπτή ζώνη αντιύλης ανακαλύφθηκε γύρω από τη Γη

Για πρώτη φορά Ιταλοί επιστήμονες ανακάλυψαν ότι μια λεπτή ζώνη σωματιδίων αντιύλης, και συγκεκριμένα αντιπρωτονίων, «τυλίγει» γύρω-γύρω τον πλανήτη μας. Η ανακάλυψη έρχεται να επιβεβαιώσει τις μέχρι τώρα θεωρίες ότι το γήινο μαγνητικό πεδίο μπορεί να παγιδέψει την αντιύλη.

Η επιβεβαίωση, η οποία παρουσιάστηκε στο περιοδικό αστροφυσικής «Astrophysical Journal Letters», σύμφωνα με το BBC και το «New Scientist», βασίζεται στα ευρήματα του ανιχνευτή κοσμικής ακτινοβολίας «Pamela», που εκτοξεύτηκε το 2006 πάνω σε ένα κατασκευασμένο στη Ρωσία δορυφόρο, προκειμένου να μελετήσει τα υψηλής ενέργειας σωματίδια, τα οποία καταφθάνουν στη Γη με προέλευση τον Ήλιο και το διάστημα πέρα από το ηλιακό μας σύστημα.

Ένα μικρό μέρος από τα αντιπρωτόνια αυτής της κοσμικής ακτινοβολίας εγκλωβίζονται -εξαιτίας του μαγνητικού πεδίου που περιβάλλει τη Γη- στην εσωτερική ζώνη «Βαν Άλεν», που βρίσκεται πέριξ του πλανήτη μας και όπου τα φορτισμένα σωματίδια κινούνται κατά μήκος των γραμμών του γήινου μαγνητικού πεδίου. Οι ερευνητές πιστεύουν ότι μπορεί να υπάρχει αρκετή αντιύλη κοντά στον πλανήτη μας, ώστε στο απώτερο μέλλον να αποτελέσει μια άκρως αποδοτική προωθητική ύλη για τα διαστημόπλοια, μια ιδέα που ήδη μελετά η NASA. Η παραγόμενη ενέργεια από την επαφή (αντίδραση) ύλης και αντιύλης είναι μεγαλύτερη και από την ενέργεια της πυρηνικής σύντηξης στα άστρα όπως ο ήλιος μας.

Τα αντιπρωτόνια -και γενικότερα η αντιύλη- εκμηδενίζονται όταν έρθουν σε επαφή με κανονική ύλη, εν προκειμένω με πρωτόνια. Όσα τέτοια σωματίδια δεν έρχονται αμέσως σε επαφή με την κανονική ύλη, παραμένουν εν ζωή για λεπτά ή και για ώρες, σχηματίζοντας έτσι μια ζώνη αντιύλης, η οποία αποτελεί «την πιο άφθονη πηγή αντιπρωτονίων κοντά στη Γη», σύμφωνα με τον ερευνητή Αλεσάντρο Μπρούνο του πανεπιστημίου του Μπάρι, έναν από τους επιστήμονες που μελέτησαν το φαινόμενο, σε συνεργασία με τον Πιερτζιόρτζιο Πικότσα του πανεπιστημίου της Ρώμης «Τορ Βεργκάτα» και άλλους ερευνητές.

Στο παρελθόν οι επιστήμονες είχαν ανακαλύψει μια άλλη μορφή αντιύλης, τα ποζιτρόνια (δηλαδή αντιηλεκτρόνια), να έχουν παγιδευτεί στις ζώνες ακτινοβολίας Βαν Άλεν και τώρα για πρώτη φορά εντοπίζονται και αντιπρωτόνια, που είναι πολύ βαρύτερα, καθώς έχουν μάζα περίπου 2.000 μεγαλύτερη από τα ποζιτρόνια.

Υπενθυμίζεται ότι άλλοι επιστήμονες, στο CERN, προσπαθούν -με τη βοήθεια ισχυρών μαγνητών- να παγιδέψουν αντιύλη για ικανό χρονικό διάστημα, ώστε να την μελετήσουν με την ησυχία τους και ήδη έχουν κάνει προόδους

John Kay - American lessons in how to run a single currency

2011-07-24T18:16:00.000+03:00

John Kay - American lessons in how to run a single currency

American lessons in how to run a single currency

21 July 2011, Financial Times

In the 1990s, when European monetary union was a plan but not a reality, I would explain to students that the effect was to replace currency risk by credit risk. With exchange rates free to float, loose monetary and fiscal policies would lead sooner or later to a fall in the exchange rate. That expectation implied higher interest rates. Currency markets would limit the scope for bad economic policies.

Monetary union meant sovereign governments could no longer print money. That change put them in the same position as any other borrower: and substantially increased the likelihood of default. Like businesses or households, governments would find that profligacy made loans more and more costly and difficult to obtain. Credit markets would limit the scope for bad economic policies.

This was how decentralised budgeting worked in the US. The federal government does not guarantee the solvency of the states, which can and do go bust – and, as several economic historians have pointed out, have done so without damage to the federal government’s credit. Last year, California’s issue of 30-year Build America bonds was set to yield 325 basis points above comparable US Treasuries – and no one suggested that this divergence put the US single currency in danger. Within the eurozone, interest rate spreads would be set differently, and might be narrower or wider.

The account I gave these students was profoundly misleading. Interest rates across the eurozone quickly converged. By 2007, European countries with much worse economic situations than California could borrow at rates no more than 20 or 30 basis points higher than Germany. The graph of interest rate spreads across Europe is one of the most widely used in economic presentations. But the significance of that graph is not the vicissitudes since 2007, but the convergence and stability that preceded it.

Why were interest rate spreads in Europe so small? Many participants simply did not care about default possibilities. If there was any interest rate differential at all between eurozone countries, a profitable carry trade was to be long the weaker country and short the stronger one, to finance Greek assets with German liabilities. In a banking book, such a position necessarily yielded regular profits until an actual event of default took place, which would certainly not happen within the next few months. And modern bankers rarely have longer time horizons than a few months.

But markets also doubted whether default would happen. They correctly judged that the European Union’s institutions would use financial irresponsibility in one part of the EU, not to reiterate the independence of individual states, but to emphasise the interdependence between them. When New York crassly mismanaged its financial affairs, the president’s response was famously paraphrased as “Ford to City: drop dead!” When Greece was guilty of similar mismanagement the reaction of the ECB and the European Commission was “how can we help?”.

The crisis in Greece – and Ireland and Portugal and perhaps elsewhere – is a crisis for Europe as a whole. Not because that is the nature of a single currency, but because Europe has consciously chosen to make it one. From its inception, the guiding philosophy of the EU was that if you took every opportunity to promote the mechanisms of integration, political and economic reality would eventually catch up. That was the vision of Robert Schumann and Jean Monnet, and their strategy was successful beyond their dreams.

But such a policy was always risky, because if institutions did not match aspirations then the resulting strains would jeopardise not just future progress but the gains already made. The fate of those who push their luck until it runs out is one of the most familiar stories of business, politics and finance – and is the fate of Europe today. Perhaps we could instead learn some lessons from across the Atlantic. The US has, on the whole successfully, combined an affirmation of states’ rights with a powerful federal government, and has maintained a stable currency union since – well, 1865.

Five Books on Relativity and Cosmology | Cosmic Variance | Discover Magazine

2011-07-24T18:10:00.000+03:00

Five Books on Relativity and Cosmology | Cosmic Variance | Discover Magazine

A website called The Browser has been doing a fun collection of interviews, where they ask experts in different fields to recommend five books, either starting points for non-experts or books that they were influenced by themselves. Read Randall Grahm on wine, Jim Shepard on short stories, Deborah Blum on science and society, or Qiu Xiaolong on classical Chinese poetry.

They asked me about relativity and cosmology, and I decided it would be more helpful to pick recent books that would bring people up to date rather than go for the classics I was reading back in the 70′s. Some of these books aren’t light reading, but it’s a matter of dedication rather than preparation; I think an interested and intelligent person who didn’t know anything about relativity or cosmology could read these and come away with some deep insights.

For more thoughts, check out the full interview.

Update: for obvious reasons, it wouldn’t be considered quite kosher to recommend one’s own books in an interview like this. This has led to the misimpression that I think my books are less than the very best. Not so!

Rework

2011-04-27T13:10:00.002+03:00

Rework (Hardcover)

by Jason Fried, David Heinemeier Hansson

JASON FRIED

First

The new reality

Takedowns

Ignore the real world
Learning from mistakes is overrated
Planning is guessing
Why grow?
Workaholism
Enough with “entrepreneurs”

Go

Make a dent in the universe
Scratch your own itch
Start making something
No time is no excuse
Draw a line in the sand
Mission statement impossible
Outside money is Plan Z
You need less than you think
Start a business, not a start-up
Building to flip is building to flop
Less mass

Progress

Embrace constraints
Build half, not half-ass
Start at the epicenter
Ignore the details early on
Making the call is making progress
Be a curator
Throw less at the problem
Focus on what won't change
Tone is in your fingers
Sell your by-products
Launch now

Productivity

Illusions of agreement
Reasons to quit
Interruption is the enemy of productivity
Meetings are toxic
Good enough is fine
Quick wins
Don't be a hero
Go to sleep
Your estimates suck
Long lists don't get done
Make tiny decisions

Competitors

Don't copy
Decommoditize your product
Pick a fight
Underdo your competition
Who cares what they’re doing?

Evolution

Say no by default
Let your customers outgrow you
Don’t confuse enthusiasm with priority
Be at-home good
Don’t write it down

Promotion

Welcome obscurity
Build an audience
Out-teach your competition
Emulate chefs
Go behind the scenes
Nobody likes plastic flowers
Press releases are spam
Forget about the Wall Street Journal
Drug dealers get it right
Marketing is not a department
The myth of the overnight sensation

Hiring

Do it yourself first
Hire when it hurts
Pass on great people
Strangers at a cocktail party
Resumes are ridiculous
Years of irrelevance
Forget about formal education
Everybody works
Hire managers of one
Hire great writers
The best are everywhere
Test-drive employees

Damage control

Own your bad news
Speed changes everything
How to say you’re sorry
Put everyone on the front lines
Take a deep breath

Culture

You don’t create a culture
Decisions are temporary
Skip the rock stars
They’re not thirteen
Send people home at 5:00
Don’t scar on the first cut
Sound like you
Four-letter words
ASAP is poison

Conclusion

Inspiration is perishable

Resources

About 37signals
37signals products

“If given a choice between investing in someone who has read REWORK or has an MBA,
I’m investing in REWORK every time. A must read for every entrepreneur.”

-Mark Cuban, co-founder HDNet, owner of the Dallas Mavericks

“The wisdom in these pages is edgy yet simple, straightforward, and proven. Read this book multiple times to help give you the courage you need to get out there and make something great.”

-Tony Hsieh, CEO, of Zappos.com

“The clarity, even genius, of REWORK actually brought me to near-tears on several occasions.”

-Tom Peters, New York Times bestselling author of IN SEARCH OF EXCELLENCE

“There’s no jargon or filler here — just hundreds of brilliantly simple rules for success.
REWORK is required reading for anyone tired of business platitudes.”

-Chris Anderson, New York Times bestselling author of THE LONG TAIL

“The authors live by the credo ‘keep it simple, stupid’ and REWORK possesses the
same intelligence — and irreverence — of that simple adage.”

-John Maeda, President RISD, author of THE LAWS OF SIMPLICITY

“The brilliance of REWORK is that it inspires you to rethink everything you
thought you knew about strategy, customers, and getting things done.”

-William C. Taylor, founder FAST COMPANY magazine

The God Particle

2011-04-27T11:57:00.006+03:00

The God ParticleDaniel Honan on April 27, 2011, 12:00 AM

As the scientific community has weighed in over the course of the last few days, who better than Peter Woit--whose blog caused all this trouble--to explain the significance of the search for the so-called 'God particle.

A premature announcement can still be an exciting thing.
Just witness what happened on the blog of Columbia University Phycisist and Big Think Expert Peter Woit's Not Even Wrong blog this week, which blew up when an anonymous poster offered up a supposedly leaked memo from scientists working at the European Large Hadron Collider (LHC) particle accelerator. The so-called 'God particle' had been discovered. Or was it? Was it a hoax? (No, a CERN spokesman has since authenticated the memo.) But was the discovery for real? And what's with all the God-talk? It's certainly not understated. This particle (Higgs Boson) is the particle that theorists think gives other particles their mass, the discovery of which has eluded scientists for decades.
What's the Big Idea?
The discovery of such a particle would offer physicists quite a bounty: an explanation of why all other particles have mass.

Just to be clear: the official word out there is: hold your horses. As far as we can deduct from official statements, scientists perceived what was merely a hint of the 'God particle,' due to the incredibly inferential nature of scientific observations in particle physics. In layman's terms, this supposed discovery was not even the subatomic equivalent of finding the proverbial needle in a haystack: the 'God particle' was sniffed out hiding in a bunch of subatomic debris at the CERN particle accelerator in Geneva, Switzerland.
What's the Significance?
A Cern spokesman, while confirming the authenticity of the note, cautioned that the discovery has not been subject to rigorous scientific examination and could end up a false alarm.
"It's genuine, but what it comes from is a note written by a very small group of people in a large collaboration," said James Gillies, director of communications at Cern. He continued, to BBC News: "If those notes survive scrutiny, which is often not the case...then the next stage in the peer review process is for them to go out to the collaboration as a whole...What was leaked was the first stage in that process ... at this stage we can't take it seriously and these things do come and go quite often."

related videos

Just in time for Easter, physicists may have found the elusive God particle.

A leaked internal memo from four scientists at the Large Hadron Collider, the enormous particle accelerator that spans the border of Switzerland and France, said an experiment there may have finally recorded the existence of the long sought-after Higgs boson.

Scientists believe that the hypothetical particle — the last one still undiscovered in the standard model of physics — plays a very special role in the universe, by imbuing all other particles with mass, making reality as we know it possible.

So science nerds were agog last week after Peter Woit, a Columbia University physicist, posted the memo on his blog, “Not Even Wrong.”

The results would appear to be "the first definitive observation of physics beyond the standard model," the leaked memo read. "Exciting new physics, including new particles, may be expected to be found in the very near future.”

If discovered, the “God particle” would be just the beginning of a new era in science and technology, said Michio Kaku, a theoretical physicist and professor at the City College of New York.

“It’s going to open the floodgates for a whole new branch of theoretical physics,” Kaku told The Daily. “There are some eternal questions that cannot be answered in the framework of conventional physics. Is time travel possible? Are there gateways to other universes? Are there parallel dimensions?”

Leon Lederman, who shared the 1988 Nobel Prize for physics, dubbed the Higgs boson the God particle in his 1993 book of the same name.

“The God particle is both a particle and a field,” said Rob Roser, a Fermilab staff scientist who heads a study at the Tevatron particle collider near Chicago. “The way any other particle couples to that field is what generates its mass.”

But nobody has been able to detect one. Higgs bosons would be extremely unstable, researchers say, lasting for less than a nanosecond before decaying into other particles like photons.

Roser said it was hard for him to comment on the memo because it hasn’t been fully vetted and formally published.

“We’ll just have to wait and see,” Roser told The Daily.

Hans Georg Ritter, a physicist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California, noted that there might be strategic reasons to leak unvetted results of the sort contained in the memo.

“If the stakes are high and if there is competition, the collaborations tend to try to publish earlier than under normal conditions,” Ritter wrote in an email. “But those publications have still to follow the scientific process. I think [leaks] are generated as a means of internal positioning for credit.”

One commenter on Woit's blog had a less skeptical perspective: “Keeping secret the work of 2,000 persons in the age of Internet is just impossible.”

According to Kaku, the Higgs boson is the one missing piece at the center of a jigsaw puzzle consisting of a vast array of subatomic particles. Locating it could move science toward developing the theory of everything, a quest that eluded Albert Einstein, Kaku has said.

That kind of knowledge ultimately could enable humanity to do things that would today seem magical under our present understanding of physical reality, Kaku wrote in his 2008 book, “Physics of the Impossible.” Since they don’t necessarily violate any known laws of physics, things like teleportation, anitmatter engines and invisibility might become feasible one day.

Finding the God particle was one of the primary motivations for building the multibillion-dollar Large Hadron Collider. Only by smashing atoms together at velocities near the speed of light will the required energy be produced to generate a Higgs boson long enough for scientists to demonstrate it is real.

Or not.

If the particle never appears, physicists would be forced to revise the formulas they have created to describe reality.

One thing the collider did for certain, scientists announced on Friday, is set the record for high-intensity particle crashes.

Researchers used beams with 6 percent more particles per unit than the previous record, set by the Fermilab Tevatron last year.

“Beam intensity is key to the success of the LHC, so this is a very important step,” said Rolf Heuer, head of the European Organization for Nuclear Research, which runs the Large Hadron Collider, in a statement. “Higher intensity means more data, and more data means greater discovery potential.”

Be a Coach, Not a Critic

2011-04-25T10:27:00.001+03:00

Unless they can highlight a problem, many book reviewers don’t feel like they have done their job. They operate under the assumption that being a critic means being critical. Many bosses operate the same way. They feel feedback is good only if it is critical or negative.

Adam Bryant suggests in The Corner Office, that we be a coach, not a critic. He writes, “Employees know if their boss is rooting for them to succeed, and they’re much more open to feedback if they sense the manager’s goal is to make them better. If you assume that most people want to get better, they want feedback and advice, that they want somebody to care about their future, then giving feedback becomes much easier.”

Unfortunately, most bosses have not established that fact with those they “serve.” They don’t deliver positive feedback on an ongoing basis and only take the time to say anything when they have some critical points to deliver. Feedback should not be thought of as an event. It should be ongoing and in real-time. Sure that’s more difficult and time-consuming, but it is what you signed up for.

Bryant shares what Tachi Yamada of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s Global Health Program had to say about feedback: “One of the things I’ve learned is that it doesn’t matter how many good things you say, the one bad thing is what sticks….Everybody has their good points. Everybody has their bad points. If you can bring out the best in everybody, then you can have a great organization. If you bring out the worst in everybody, you’re going to have a bad organization.” What are you bringing out?

David Novak of Yum Brands adds, “When you start out by talking to people about what they’re doing well, that makes them very receptive for feedback because at least you’re giving them credit for what they’ve done. Then I say, ‘And you can be even more effective if you do this.’ I think that really works.”

When it comes to feedback, packaging is everything.

Statistical mechanics of the international trade network

2011-04-17T10:05:00.001+03:00

Analyzing real data on international trade covering the time interval 1950-2000, we show that in each year over the analyzed period the network is a typical representative of the ensemble of maximally random weighted networks, whose directed connections (bilateral trade volumes) are only characterized by the product of the trading countries' GDPs. It means that time evolution of this network may be considered as a continuous sequence of equilibrium states, i.e. quasi-static process. This, in turn, allows one to apply the linear response theory to make (and also verify) simple predictions about the network. In particular, we show that bilateral trade fulfills fluctuation-response theorem, which states that the average relative change in import (export) between two countries is a sum of relative changes in their GDPs. Yearly changes in trade volumes prove that the theorem is valid. Supported by the well-known qualitative findings about economic crises, we argue that the theorem provides valuable quantitative insights into the mechanisms underlying the emergence of worldwide crises.

110406Cavaliere.pdf (application/pdf Object)

2011-04-16T21:35:00.000+03:00

110406Cavaliere.pdf (application/pdf Object)

RÉSONAANCES: Xenon100: Nothing

2011-04-16T08:40:00.000+03:00

RÉSONAANCES: Xenon100: Nothing

Xenon100: Nothing

The most expected experimental result of Spring 2011 is out now. XENON100 just released the results of the dark matter search based on 100 days of data-taking with xenon target in 2010. Here is what they see:
The plot shows all events that pass the quality cuts. The x-axis corresponds to the measured recoil energy determined by counting the number of scintillation photons in the event, the so-called S1. (There is an important companion paper fixing the relation between recoil and S1 at low energies where previous experimental results have been somewhat confusing). Most of the events in the plot are due to photons scattering on electrons from the xenon atoms. The way to distinguish those from the more interesting nuclear recoils (expected when a dark matter particle scatters) is by simultaneously measuring the number of ionization electrons, the so-called S2. Nuclear recoils typically lead to a smaller ratio of S2/S1 (the grey area in the plot). Therefore one makes a cut on S2/S1 (the dashed horizontal line) defining the signal region such that most electron recoils are rejected while the bulk of nuclear recoils is retained. At the end of the day one finds 3 events in the signal window (red points) while the expected background, mostly from spillover of electron recoils, is estimated to be 1.8 ± 0.6. Once again, no signal :-( Instead, we have new limits on the dark matter - nucleon cross section
For a 100 GeV dark matter particle the limit is around 10^-44 cm2, 3 times better than the previous limits from CDMS and Edelweiss. For light dark matter the improvement seems to be even better, more than an order of magnitude, which further disfavors dark matter interpretations of the CoGeNT and DAMA signals.

Actually, the paper mentions in passing that the analysis leading to these limits was not completely blind. After opening the box, there were many events at small recoil energy of which 3 fell into the signal region, which would make 6 signal events in total. However after investigating these 3 additional events the collaboration decided they were static from the electric can opener ;-), and devised additional cuts to get rid of them.

So what do these results tell us about the WIMP dark matter? At which point should we start to worry that we're on the wrong track? Unfortunately, there is no sharp prediction for the dark matter cross section. The most appealing possibility – a weak scale dark matter particle interacting with matter via Z-boson exchange - leads to the cross section of order 10^-39 cm2 which was excluded back in the 80s by the first round of dark matter experiments. There exists another natural possibility for WIMP dark matter: a particle interacting via Higgs boson exchange. This would lead to the cross section in the 10^-42-10^-46 cm2 ballpark (depending on the Higgs mass and on the coupling of dark matter to the Higgs). This generic possibility is now getting disfavored thanks to Xenon100's efforts, unless the Higgs is heavier than we expect. Therefore, even though models predicting the cross section below 10^-44 cm2 certainly do exist, it may be a good moment to start thinking more seriously about alternatives to WIMP. In the worst case dark matter may be very weakly interacting (axions, gravitinos) or very light (keV-MeV scale dark matter), in which case the current approach to direct detection is doomed from the start.

See also Peter's and Tommaso's blogs.

http://www.google.com/ig/adde?moduleurl=http://resonaances.blogspot.com/feeds/5579001077266201785/comments/default&source=imag

2011-04-16T08:37:00.001+03:00

What Is Reality? - The Homepage of Andrew Thomas

2011-04-10T17:41:00.000+03:00

What Is Reality? - The Homepage of Andrew Thomas

Science
Quantum Mechanics: An Introduction

Εισαγωγή στην Κβαντομηχανική.

Quantum Mechanics: An Introduction

Introducing the peculiar world of the quantum, where a particle is a wave, and a wave is a particle. Considers the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle. (Part 1 of "An Introduction to Quantum Reality")

The Quantum Casino

At its most basic level, nature appears to be fundamentally random. Are we all players in a game of chance at the Quantum Casino?
(Part 2 of "An Introduction to Quantum Reality")

Quantum Entanglement

Quantum states can become entangled in astonishing ways. Welcome to the strange world of "qubits", faster-than-light communication, and Einstein's first definition of reality.
(Part 3 of "An Introduction to Quantum Reality")

Quantum Decoherence

At last it would appear a solution has been found to the riddle of the apparent collapse of the wavefunction. Includes an interactive simulation of decoherence in an ensemble of particles.
(Part 4 of "An Introduction to Quantum Reality")

Quantum Reality

A review of our study of quantum mechanics, the Copenhagen Interpretation, and the first indications of a deeper "veiled" reality.
(Part 5 of "An Introduction to Quantum Reality")
Click here for more
It's a Small World

Introducing the Standard Model of particle physics, and string theory. But are these theories truly fundamental, or do they rest on a infinite tower of turtles?

Time and the Block Universe

Using a purely logical argument - involving no physics or mathematics whatsoever - this page might make you change your mind about everything you have ever believed about the passage of time.

The Arrow of Time

All fundamental physical processes appear to be time-reversible - so why don't we see broken eggs mending themselves? And why can't we remember the future?

The Anthropic Principle

Some of the fundamental physical constants in the universe appear to have been fine-tuned, otherwise life could not exist. Are "multiverse" solutions the answer to this mystery?

The Mathematical Universe

The universe appears to have an uncanny connection with the world of mathematics. Why is this? And do mathematical structures have a reality all of their own?

Is the Universe a Computer?

Some physicists believe the universe behaves like a digital computer. But are there some things in the universe which cannot be computed? And is the universe made of "information"?

Are We Living in the Matrix?

An examination of the evidence that our universe is the product of an advanced civilisation. Are we living in a computer simulation? Are we all "housemates" in the ultimate reality show?

The Intelligent Universe

Does intelligence play a special role in the universe? Could the universe have created itself? And could Arnold Schwarzenegger's Terminator arm hold the key?
Click here for more

Survival Of The Stupidest

2011-04-09T23:37:00.000+03:00

Survival Of The Stupidest

Is stupidity rising? Are we witnessing an alarming proliferation of irrationality and an exuberance of ignorance?

Stupidity seems a concern to a growing group of scholars. Last month alone two arXiv papers (here and here) appeared that both refer to a 35 year old essay by the Italian economic historian Carlo Cipolla entitled "The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity". In this humorous yet thought-provocative treatise Cipolla warns against the power of stupidity. Three of Cipolla laws of stupidity I reproduce here. The first provides a definition for stupidity, and the latter two highlight the abundance and the effectiveness of stupidity:

"A stupid person is a person who causes losses to another person or to a group of persons while himself deriving no gain and even possibly incurring losses."

"Always and inevitably everyone underestimates the number of stupid individuals in circulation."

"Non-stupid people always underestimate the damaging power of stupid individuals. In particular non-stupid people constantly forget that at all times and places and under any circumstances to deal and/or associate with stupid people always turns out to be a costly mistake."

Cipolla describes stupid people as an unstructured, yet powerful group. He argues that when you suffer due to the actions of others, it is likely not due to malevolent actions, but rather due to stupid actions:

"Our daily life is mostly, made of cases in which we lose money and/or time and/or energy and/or appetite, cheerfulness and good health because of the improbable action of some preposterous creature who has nothing to gain and indeed gains nothing from causing us embarrassment, difficulties or harm. Nobody knows, understands or can possibly explain why that preposterous creature does what he does. In fact there is no explanation - or better there is only one explanation: the person in question is stupid."

Since Cipolla's essay appeared in 1976, several authors have rediscovered his findings. In particular, Hanlon's razor

"Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity"

published by Robert Hanlon four years following Cipolla's essay, can be interpreted as a corollary to the basic laws of stupidity listed above.

A Darwinian Enigma

Although the above thoughts on the effects of stupidity might seem compelling, they do leave us with an enigma ignored by Cipolla and his followers: how come stupidity abounds? Should stupidity not have been eliminated long ago by the process of natural selection?

At first sight, stupidity is a characteristic that is expected in natural selection processes to suffer and to become extinct. After all, stupid persons by definition act in ways that tend to yield no gain to them. Place a stupid person in a competitive environment of non-stupid persons, and the stupid person will likely come out as the loser, and certainly not as the fittest.

How then can stupidity survive and flourish?

Let me attempt to provide a satisfactory answer to this question. I do not claim to have reached a definitive answer, but the mechanism I propose, if not fully explaining the survival of stupidity, at least contributes to it. Moreover, and as often is the case, the route towards the answer is interesting in itself. It will bring us from poker strategy to the limits of applicability of game theory.

Key feature of stupidity is that its power lies in its abundance. One stupid person is helpless, a herd of stupid persons can be invincible. Place a smart individual in a group of stupid persons and you will witness the smart person succumb to stupidity. In an environment infested by stupidity 'being the smartest' does not equate to 'being the fittest'.

To get a grip on the mechanism behind the effectiveness of abundant stupidity, we go back to 1997. In that year Andy Morton, a poker-playing molecular biologist posted a poker strategy article on the internet that can be summarized as:

"beware of the power of stupidity"

a catchphrase that equally well summarizes Cipolla's findings.

In his poker strategy posting Morton effectively demonstrates that also in zero-sum games like poker the damaging effect of a stupidity can extend well beyond the person acting stupidly. Morton describes a realistic poker scenario in which you can only hope that your opponents make the right play, as a stupid move by one of them will hurt you. What happens in this scenario is that the stupid move by one of your opponents harms the opponent's monetary expectation as well as yours, and causes an opposing (positive) effect on the expectations of the other players. Note that this 'Morton effect' (a stupid move of your opponent hurting you) can not be present in a two-player zero-sum game. For the Morton effect to occur in a zero-sum game, you need to be facing multiple opponents.

The Double Morton

We are now ready to introduce the next and final step in our quest to explain the abundance of stupidity: the double Morton. The mechanism behind the double Morton is easy to understand based on the Morton effect in a multi-player games.

Suppose you are playing a three-player game against Alice and Bob. Assuming this game to be enriched by Morton effects, Alice will have the choice of a stupid move that will make herself and you suffer while Bob will profit. But so can Bob: a stupid move is available to him that will cause himself and you to suffer while Alice will profit.

What will happen if both players will make such a stupid move?

The net effect will be that you suffer while Alice and Bob will gain. This double Morton effect is what makes stupidity disproportionally effective in groups infested by stupidity. It provides stupidity with a positive feedback loop that results in stupidity breeding stupidity.

Morton's example is specific to poker situations, but the Morton effect as well as the double Morton are abundant in many multi-player games. Constructing a simple example game that highlights the power of the double Morton is rather straightforward.

The Tennis Dilemma

You and two of your tennis friends are independently offered the use of a tennis court. Each of you has to decide on the spot and without any opportunity to negotiate or communicate which offer to take: 45 minutes of tennis at court A, or 60 minutes at court B. If all three of you opt for the same court, you can all play but you have to share the court amongst the three of you, so that each of you will play 2/3rd of the total time available. If one of you selects a court different from the choice of the two others, (s)he is alone and can not play any tennis, while the other two each have the court of their choice available to play for the full time allotted.

Which tennis court do you choose?

Do I hear 'B'? Good! With tennis court 'B' available for a longer period and all other things being equal, non-stupid persons will select option 'B'. Assuming that your two friends make the same rational choice, you will each enjoy 40 minutes of tennis.

"What is the dilemma?", you might ask, "there is only one reasonable choice! I know option 'B' is best, and so do the two others. I would never select 'A', that would leave me empty handed and give them the full 60 minutes of tennis."

If these thoughts crossed your mind, you have fallen victim of Cipolla's law on non-stupid people underestimating the damaging power of stupid individuals. Let's see why this is the case.

As we have seen, you will be doing well with your rational choice for option 'B' as long as at least one of the two others behaves rational as well.

But what if both others behave stupidly and select court 'A'? This changes things dramatically. You end up alone at court 'B' which gives you zero minutes of play, while the two others each enjoy 45 minutes of tennis.

How stupid is that?

Imagine the discussion afterwards. "You should have selected the other court" you shout at your friends when they have finished their game.

"Why would we?" is the calm reply.

"Choosing 'A' is a really stupid move!" you burst out, "choice 'B' gives much more playing time!"

"How much time would we have received if we had selected option 'B'?

"We would each have had 40 minutes!"

"Ha! We have played for 45 minutes. I think you are stupid!"

Loud laughter surrounds you while your 'stupid' tennis friends walk to the tennis bar, leaving you speechless.

Stupid2 = Smart

The above tennis dilemma makes it trivially clear that two stupid choices, neither of them directed towards optimizing ones gains, can generate an unbeatable outcome. Two 'stupids' can make a 'smart'. This, however, is a destructive 'smart' as it effectively reduces the total benefit to the group (in this case by reducing the total player-time from 120 to 90 minutes).

Note that according to Cipollo's definition a player who selected 'A' is individually guilty of being stupid. Would this player have changed his choice from 'A' to 'B', he would have increased his time at the tennis court from 45 to 60 minutes and the total time of the two others also from 45 to 60 minutes. So by not selecting choice 'B' this player reduced not only his time on the tennis court by 15 minutes, but also the time of the others by the same amount. However, the two players who selected 'A' are collectively not stupid at all. With you opting for the rational choice 'B', there is no way they jointly could have pocketed more playing time.

We see here the 'double Morton' in full swing: a critical mass of stupidity result in an unbeatable destructive force. This occurs at the poker table, but equally well in real life.

The double Morton puts limits to the applicability of game theory, as this theory is based on the premise of rational behavior. In groups in which false beliefs like 'choice A is best' become popular, game theory is rendered of limited use. That does not mean a rational person will be a helpless victim of the irrationality surrounding her. She might work out that if at least 64% of the population adheres to the false belief 'A is best', the optimal response is to move with the majority and also select 'A'. So in a population dominated by stupidity, rational persons are forced to behave stupidly.

The following scenario is therefore entirely possible: three rational individuals participate in the tennis dilemma without knowing any of the other players. All three, however, do know that in the population they live in choice 'A' is made more than 64% of the time. All three of them therefore make the rational choice of option 'A'. When confronted with the outcome, all three think "pfew, good that I anticipated the irrational behavior of the other two!". Interestingly, it could very well be that in this population irrationality is a thing of the past: all individuals act rationally by responding to hard statistics. Stupid behavior is not synonymous to irrational behavior.

It should by now be clear that the double Morton provides a mechanism for stupidity to be abundant. Provided double Mortons occur in the everyday survival game we refer to as 'living your life', stupidity, when abundant, will have a tendency to stay abundant.

Victim of Stupidity

We all repeatedly fall victim of the Morton effect. Someone acts stupidly thereby hurting not only himself but also you. The fact that this can happen in nonzero-sum games is rather trivial. Morton made it clear that this scenario extends to multiplayer zero-sum games.

But even the person who knows best the power of stupidity remains vulnerable in the presence of such.

When he disclosed his theory back in 1997 Andy Morton was aged 33. He tragically died a year later. The cause of his premature death? Andy fell victim of the Morton effect and paid the ultimate price for someone else acting stupidly. Andy was riding his motorcycle when a woman in a pickup truck approaching Andy pulled out into oncoming traffic and hit him head on, killing Andy instantly.

Is That A New Massive Particle ? Is That Some Kind Of Higgs ?

2011-04-09T23:30:00.000+03:00

Is That A New Massive Particle ? Is That Some Kind Of Higgs ?

[1104.0699] Invariant Mass Distribution of Jet Pairs Produced in Association with a W boson in ppbar Collisions at sqrt(s) = 1.96 TeV

2011-04-09T23:17:00.000+03:00

[1104.0699] Invariant Mass Distribution of Jet Pairs Produced in Association with a W boson in ppbar Collisions at sqrt(s) = 1.96 TeV

FermiLab Physicists May Have Found New Particle - NYTimes.com

2011-04-09T23:14:00.000+03:00

FermiLab Physicists May Have Found New Particle - NYTimes.com

YouTube - Physicist Dr. Michio Kaku Discussing Nuclear Plant Dangers

2011-03-20T11:09:00.000+02:00

YouTube - Physicist Dr. Michio Kaku Discussing Nuclear Plant Dangers

Nature Publishing Group : science journals, jobs, and information

2011-03-05T19:21:00.000+02:00

Nature Publishing Group : science journals, jobs, and information

Hidden Dimensions: Exploring Hyperspace on World Science Festival - live streaming video powered by Livestream

2011-02-13T20:28:00.000+02:00

Hidden Dimensions: Exploring Hyperspace on World Science Festival - live streaming video powered by Livestream

Replay: Black Holes and Holographic Worlds | World Science Festival

2011-02-13T18:51:00.000+02:00

Replay: Black Holes and Holographic Worlds | World Science Festival

World Science Festival 2009: Infinite Worlds, Part 1 of 6 on Vimeo

2011-02-13T10:41:00.000+02:00

World Science Festival 2009: Infinite Worlds, Part 1 of 6 on Vimeo

The multiverse hypothesis, suggesting that our universe is but one of perhaps infinitely many, speaks to the very nature of reality. Moderator Robert Krulwich leads a distinguished panel, featuring physicist Brian Greene, cosmologists Alan Guth and Andrei Linde, and philosopher Nick Bostrom as they discuss and debate this controversial implication of forefront research and explore its potential for redefining the cosmic order.

This event took place on June 13, 2009 in the Skirball Center at NYU. This is the first of six segments.

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2011-02-13T09:48:00.000+02:00

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2011-02-13T09:46:00.000+02:00

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i read now

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Περιγραφή

Ένας πλούσιος και διάσημος αρχιτέκτονας βρίσκεται δολοφονημένος στο σπίτι του στο Μανχάταν. Μοναδική μάρτυρας του φόνου είναι η νεαρή και όμορφη κόρη του, η οποία όμως δεν είναι σε θέση να δώσει πληροφορίες στην αστυνομία επειδή πάσχει από αμνησία. Την ίδια εποχή τυχαίνει να βρίσκεται στη Νέα Υόρκη ο γνωστός Βιεννέζος ψυχίατρος Ζίγκμουντ Φρόιντ, μαζί με το φίλο και μαθητή του Καρλ Γιουνγκ. Οι δύο ψυχίατροι θα κληθούν να προσφέρουν τις υπηρεσίες τους εφαρμόζοντας στη νεαρή γυναίκα τη θεραπευτική μέθοδο της ψυχανάλυσης και θα βρεθούν έτσι αντιμέτωποι με τη μεγαλύτερη πρόκληση της καριέρας τους: να διεισδύσουν στην ψυχή ενός κατά συρροήν δολοφόνου.

Το μυθιστόρημα "Ο Φρόιντ στο Μανχάταν", του Γάλλου συγγραφέα Λυκ Μποσί, κυκλοφόρησε το 2009 και σημείωσε μεγάλη εκδοτική επιτυχία στη Γαλλία.

Το βιβλίο στηρίζεται σ' ένα ιστορικό γεγονός: το φθινόπωρο του 1909 ο Ζίγκμουντ Φρόιντ και ο Καρλ Γιουνγκ επισκέπτονται την Αμερική. Σκοπός τους είναι να δώσουν μια σειρά διαλέξεων στα αμερικανικά πανεπιστήμια για να προωθήσουν την ιδέα της ψυχανάλυσης. Αξιοποιώντας το πραγματολογικό υλικό και την πλούσια σχετική βιβλιογραφία, ο Μποσί γράφει ένα συναρπαστικό μυθιστόρημα, όπου η ιστορική αλήθεια αναμιγνύεται με τη μυθοπλαστική φαντασία.
Ο συγγραφέας, στηριγμένος σε βιογραφικά και επιστημονικά δεδομένα, σκιαγραφεί με ζωντάνια τις δύο μεγάλες προσωπικότητες της ψυχιατρικής, καθώς και τη σύγκρουση που υποβόσκει στις σχέσεις τους. Στις σελίδες του βιβλίου ζωντανεύει επίσης η Αμερική των αρχών του εικοστού αιώνα, με τη ραγδαία οικιστική και τεχνολογική ανάπτυξη αλλά και τη διαρκώς αυξανόμενη βία της αμερικανικής κοινωνίας.

Speaker Series: Deepak Chopra on the Soul of Leadership

2011-02-12T12:17:00.000+02:00

Speaker Series: Deepak Chopra on the Soul of Leadership

February 3rd, 2011

Ed. This series of posts features select interviews, speeches and presentations held as part of the LinkedIn Speaker Series. The presentation below was held at our Mountain View campus, during Deepak Chopra’s visit.
Social injustice, poverty, ecological devastation. Can we repair these global problems?
According to world-renowned author teacher and thinker Deepak Chopra, technology– and LinkedIn– has the potential to heal the planet in many ways, by fostering relationships.
“I believe that technology is the manifestation of God through the human nervous system,” Deepak said. “The Internet is the new planetary mind. It’s not just connectivity. It’s nurturing relationships.”
Deepak shared these insights, along with other ideas from his new book, The Soul Of Leadership: Unlocking Your Potential For Greatness, at LinkedIn’s corporate headquarters in Mountain View.

According to Gallup, 20 percent of the U.S. workforce is actively disengaged– costing the U.S. economy $380 billion a year. If you work in an environment where your colleague or your superior ignores you, your likelihood of getting disengaged goes up by 45 percent. But if colleague notices a single strength you have, your disengagement falls to less than 1 percent. The solution, Deepak says, is nurturing your colleagues. And that happens through connecting.
Deepak contends that the best way to empower employees is to focus on their strengths. He cited Gallup research that shows that the four most important things people expect of their leaders are hope, compassion, trust and stability.
He spoke about how good leaders take calculated risks that comes from a deeper understanding of context, meaning and relationship. The most important thing, Deepak said, is living up to your values, being responsible for feedback and maintaining good health.
“If you focus on success, you’ll have stress,” Deepak said. “But if you pursue excellence, success will be guaranteed.”

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Five Books on Relativity and Cosmology | Cosmic Variance | Discover Magazine

Rework

First

Takedowns

Go

Progress

Productivity

Competitors

Evolution

Promotion

Hiring

Damage control

Culture

Conclusion

Resources