Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Understanding the Facebook “Find out who views your profile” scam

OpenDNS Blog reports: "Every few weeks there’s a new scam that makes the rounds on Facebook. This week it’s the “Find out who visits your profile,” scam, which we’ve all seen before. The reason it piques my interest this time is the sheer volume of people falling victim. That coupled with the fact that the victims include some of my more tech-savvy Facebook friends made me want to understand better what exactly the virus is trying to do and how we can all protect ourselves.

The virus works first by gaining access to your Facebook account. Unlike other methods for hacking, which involve somehow accessing your login credentials, this scam needs only for you to click a link posted on your wall or someone else’s wall. To entice you into clicking, the scam offers something lots of people would love to know, but Facebook doesn’t allow: a list of people who’ve viewed your profile. You might receive an e-mail notification that tells you a friend has posted a link on your wall with this context:"

(Read the rest of the article)

Monday, May 23, 2011

Einstein for Everyone

For over a decade John Norton has taught an introductory, undergraduate class at the University of Pittsburgh called "Einstein for Everyone". The course is aimed at people who have a strong sense that what Einstein did changed everything. However they do not know enough physics to understand what he did and why it was so important.

Spaceship Two - First "Feather" Flight



May 4, 2011 - This is footage of Spaceship Two's first test flight using the new "feathering" mechanism over Mojave, CA. The way feathering works, is the wings on this craft rotate 90 degrees upward into the "feather" configuration that provides a shuttlecock effect. (more information)

Space Saving Living

As Americans we live like we do less with more. For example, we have big homes full of stuff that we don't use. We drive big cars, that consume lots of gas but can go two times faster then the speed limit.

We have had the luxury of living during a time of abundance. Although as the world is quickly approaching 9 billion people, we have to learn how to do more with less.

Here are some videos of creative geniuses that have converted small living areas into a compact cozy living spaces.

Time Lapse Clouds and Sky Over the Canary Islands



If you like this video, also check the The Mountain.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Cotton: The Future of American High Tech?

A Day in the Life of a Kiva Robot



Mick Mountz is founder and CEO of Kiva Systems. Mountz founded Kiva Systems in 2003, after experiencing the inadequacy of existing material-handling technologies for ecommerce at the grocery delivery startup Webvan. Kiva's integrated order-fulfillment solution employs hundreds of mobile robots and distributed intelligence to enable faster, more flexible ecommerce distribution centers for companies like The Gap, Saks Fifth Avenue, Diapers.com, Staples, Walgreens, and Crate and Barrel. Under Mountz's leadership, Kiva was ranked sixth on the 2009 Inc. 500 list of the fastest growing private companies in the US.

Friday, May 13, 2011

Ron Gutman: The hidden power of smiling



Ron Gutman reviews a raft of studies about smiling, and reveals some surprising results. Did you know your smile can be a predictor of how long you'll live -- and that a simple smile has a measurable effect on your overall well-being? Prepare to flex a few facial muscles as you learn more about this evolutionarily contagious behavior.

Silk, the ancient material of the future: Fiorenzo Omenetto



Fiorenzo Omenetto shares 20+ astonishing new uses for silk, one of nature’s most elegant materials — in transmitting light, improving sustainability, adding strength and making medical leaps and bounds. On stage, he shows a few intriguing items made of the versatile stuff.

Google's Johnny Chung Lee: Innovation on the Edge



Innovation on the Edge: How Hackers Turned a Videogame Controller into a Breakthrough Device

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Guy Kawasaki: Enchantment Marketing



Marketing these days is strategic and holistic and involves a whole lot of genuine social media engagement. Renowned venture capitalist Kawasaki is famous for helping to create Apple product evangelism and for his legendary marketing methods. He explains how to develop the highest level of relations with customers, employees and colleagues by affecting their hearts, minds and actions.

Peter Beinart in Conversation with Paul Krugman



Professor and journalist Peter Beinart talks with Paul Krugman, New York Times columnist and a Nobel Laureate in Economics. They discuss the state of US and world economies, US employment, the rise of China, trade and immigration, and more.

Saturday, May 07, 2011

Matt Ridley: Deep Optimism



Via trade and other cultural activities, "ideas have sex," and that drives human history in the direction of inconstant but accumulative improvement over time. The criers of havoc keep being proved wrong. A fundamental optimism about human affairs is deeply rational and can be reliably conjured with.

Trained at Oxford as a zoologist and an editor at The Economist for eight years, Matt Ridley's newest book is The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves. His earlier works include Francis Crick; Nature via Nurture; Genome; and The Origins of Virtue.

Friday, May 06, 2011

Intel unveils 3-D transistor breakthrough

Windows for Devices reports: "Intel had been expected to use its May 4 press conference to promote its progress in making computer chips smaller (and, hence, cheaper and more economical on power). Most of the company's offerings still have circuitry that's 45 nanometers apart, but 32nm devices are also in production, and 22nm and 14nm versions have been promised for next year.

Indeed, the chip giant did talk up its 2012 'Ivy Bridge' Core processors (see later in this story), already known to be using a 22nm process. But it also pulled a rabbit out of a hat in the form of its new 3-D 'Tri-Gate' technology, billed as 'a significant breakthrough in the evolution of the transistor.'" (full article)



Excerpt from video: "Intel announces a major technical breakthrough and historic innovation in microprocessors: the world's first 3-D transistors, called Tri-Gate, in a production technology. The transition to 3-D Tri-Gate transistors sustains the pace of technology advancement, fueling Moore's Law for years to come.

An unprecedented combination of performance improvement and power reduction to enable new innovations across a range of future 22nm-based devices from the smallest handhelds to powerful cloud-based servers.

Intel demonstrates a 22nm microprocessor -- codenamed "Ivy Bridge" -- that will be the first high-volume chip to use 3-D Tri-Gate transistors."

Thursday, May 05, 2011

Jane McGonigal: How Games Can Make a Better World



Can problems like poverty and climate change by fixed through games? Visionary game designer Jane McGonigal thinks it can. With more than 174 million gamers in the United States, McGonigal explores how we can save the world through the power of gaming. McGonigal is helping pioneer the fasting-growing genre of games that turns gameplay to achieve socially positive outcomes.

Chris Anderson - PopTech



What happens when material things become free? Long Tail author and Wired magazine editor Chris Anderson examines new models of wealth distribution and claims we’re moving from economies of scarcity to an age of abundance.

Tuesday, May 03, 2011

Donald Ingber: Serendipitous science



Donald Ingber explains how taking an undergraduate sculpture course while learning how to culture cells led to an unexpected breakthrough in understanding cellular construction. He believes an open mind for serendipity correlates to innovations in a diverse range of fields — from the “lung-on-a-chip” to “DNA origami.”

For more information, check out the following web site.

Monday, May 02, 2011

Angela Belcher: Using nature to grow batteries



Inspired by an abalone shell, Angela Belcher programs viruses to make elegant nanoscale structures that humans can use. Selecting for high-performing genes through directed evolution, she's produced viruses that can construct powerful new batteries, clean hydrogen fuels and record-breaking solar cells. At TEDxCaltech, she shows us how it's done.