Gapminder is an organisation that has the goal of simplify data presentation and to make statistics easily understandable. They developped an application named Trendalyzer that has recently been acquired by Google.
The goal of the foundation
is to promote a fact-based worldview by bringing statistical story-telling to new levels. In collaboration with producers of accurate statistics that are eager to give the public free access to databases.
Regarding the huge amount of datas and informations owned by Google it is highly probable that soon, the range of available datas will be widely expanded.
If there are numerous of smaller initiatives running for the moment on that field, Google has been the first major internet company to offer online desktop applications, like wordprecessors or spreadsheets.
Microsoft quickly reacted and today it is Adobe’s turn to annouce an online version of their major product Photoshop. The main reason for such a quick decision to go online? Google. As said by their CEO Bruce Chizen:
“That is new (for Adobe). It’s something we are sensitive to because we are watching folks like Google do it in different categories, and we want to make sure that we are there before they are, in areas of our franchises”
This comes after Remix an Adobe’s web-based video editing application.
Microsft kicked IBM ass because they see that software would be the most important asset in IT and not hardware as IBM believed. If Microsoft battles on the internet field, they never had a distant vision.
Google is using no longer software but network, and it seems that the whole desktop based software environment will soon be runnig via the network.
Like Sun envisioned it a long time ago.
Last Year the belgian historical cable operator Brutele changed its name to Voo.
While merging with other cable operators, Brutele choosed the brand name Voo, wich in French means You (”Vous”).
If the intention seems to be good: Including the customer in the brand. My opinion is that totally missed their target.
One detail they certainly forget to think about is that the brand name will be prononced by customers and not the company. What happens then is a exclusion of the brand by the customers.
So Voo is actually opposing the brand and the customers face to face. Then creating a gap between the brand and its customer base.
As a old customer, I can notice that the budget has first been put on marketing and not on service improvement. This generating more issues and then the brand name choice is more and more powerfull as the customer’s satisfaction get down.
What is sold as a triple play offer is actually meaning that Voo’s side you’ll have to speak with 3 different services, you’ll receive 3 different invoices, with one same brand name Voo.
Moreover: for a frenchspeaking person, misprononciating the name would lead to something like Vo (like the Cow’s baby: Veau in french).
Not a nice image to associate with fast and performant communication services.
The Noo name would have been probably better but with also some major weaknesses.
In summary, we can say that: “what’s inside is visible outside.”
Beside the many services and tools available at Google, which are enabling structuration, indexing and access for content and information in many domains: web pages, documents, images, location, books, news… over the internet or on your desktop.
They are offering today the bases of remote web applications such as word processor, spreadsheets, calendars, and emails. This available for FREE!!!
As everything has a price, what could be the one for such great free services?
Is Google totally neutral?
Will they never use information for their own benefits ?
Of course they will!
But beside that, will they never decide to pass these info to some governments. Did you read the disclaimers? Personnaly I didn’t. I’m playing the game unconsciously because it’s too easy and disclaimers are too long anyway.
But do you really know what information (the digital footprints) you are putting a little bit everywhere? If someone is able to recup them what are they able to know about you? You do not want to know, for sure. By googling my nickname I found more than 20 pages of results. Impressive at my own personal opinion for such an anonym person like me. And I am as far as I know the only one to use such a nick.
Digital age will force us to rethink a lots of things as said in a previous post, privacy is definitely a concept that already evolved radicaly. It is certainly a begining.
A major argument is that if you have nothin to hide you shoud have nothing to fear.
Indeed, but what about tomorrow? Like in the “enemy of the state” movie, you can start having enemies without even knowing it. You can start being a threat for someone else’s business or project a long time before start being aware of it.
And then in the harsh competition field or in a totalitarian state you are not fully supporting, what kind of information can be used against you?
Those services have one huge weakness, they are storing your private and confidential information on their server. The AOL case (post in french) already showed us that the amount of information is largely beyond what a normal user can easily imagine. Against that their are currently nothing stating any rules or laws and information is generally conserved during a long period of time.
For what duration? For what use? What is the limit? We just don’t know.
Nano technologies are slowly emerging from the ground. The technology is already studied for years now, and it’s already a long time that numerous patents are taken by companies for many inventions and applications in that field.
Recently nanotubes have been commercialized and the lack of production chains make developement of its use in industry a bit slower. But for sure there are already hundreds of application in tha area.
All this article is based on a 3D simulation, so it’s as far as I know half fiction and may be anticipation. we’ll have to wait a bit longer to see more than that and of course if it was indeed a insight on the future and not as some people buzz machine generator designed to get funds. But thinking about nanos is giving a lot to think about.
The first video demonstration showing the kind of nanofactory that could create « nanobjects » of tomorrow.
We do not speak here about big production chains, but the desktop factory, the one to one industry enabling home manufacture of industrialized products.
But, nanotechnologies are now opening new perspectives. And this is announced as an upcoming project. A study field which could offer in few years a radical change in our lives.
The Carnegie Mellon’s Synthetic Reality Project from the university of , Claytronics are described as:
An ensemble of material that contains sufficient local computation
This Catoms can be programmed to form interesting dynamic shapes and configurations. This then leads to numerous applications. Claytronics could then compute 3D objects or persons that our brains would accept for real. A golf lesson in your livingroom gave by Tiger Woods? French Open Tennis matchs streamed on your kitchen table? Or more simply polymorphic pocket objects (polymorphic multi usage kit: key, screwdriver, various tools)?
This new technology will also be able by using these tiny Catoms, to enable three-dimensional copies of people to be “faxed” around the world for virtual meetings.
A doctor could also consult with a patient over the phone, even taking their pulse by holding the wrist of the claytronic replica, reports New Scientist.
The question is then:
«…Does someone broke the knob on the hype engine?»
Or are there some prototypes that can really validate such things in a not so distant future? If this become a reality this could mean that the two dimensions (virtual >< reality) would then merge in a deep and total way.
The impact on our perception of reality would be total.
Science fiction and science often exchanged ideas and direction to look onto. I would say not If?
If such a think is possible The Matrix would be just a childish and naive vision of what would be a virtual reality.
I’m a PlayStation fan, and I’m really curious to see it, but I found this video on youtube and the reflexion worth it.
Some points I know are totaly true, and others are plausible.
PS3: a new star gaming machine or total failure?
Sales are currently lower than expected in Japan and US. Europe waits for it in less than two weeks.
