A bunch of interesting/inspiring topics for the weekend…

Designing “Big Data”

Jeff Veen from Small Batch Inc. gave a 20-minutes talk at the Web2.0 Expo at San Francisco.
During the talk he focuses on some classic examples for information visualization (John Snow pump, Minard‘s map, the tube map, and so on), the challenge of making data more accessible and understandable vs. just “decorating” it and the emerging challenge in Web 2.0 to empower users to find and create their own stories using the data.

And on the same topic of dealing with “big data”, check out the AlloSphere. A system developed by scientists and artists at the University of California for exploring huge sets of data as a visual and audible 3D world:

Cool New Computer Interaction Technology

I saw this amazing UI concept watching the TED podcast:

The concept as computers as tiny blocks that can react to each other is just amazing and the possibilities here, especially in education, are endless…

Kiva Robots Invade the Warehouse

If a bunch of tiny computers interacting can change personal computing here’s what it can do in the enterprise – optimize warehouses supply chain:

The servers work in real-time, receiving orders, immediately dispatching robots to bring the required pods to the worker fulfilling the order, and then returning the pods to their storage locations. The robots receive their orders wirelessly, while using cameras to read navigational barcode stickers on the warehouse floor.

Have a great weekend!

Tags: Finding Inspiration, Innovation, Technology

I don’t get it. A bunch of tech ‘elites’ partying out in Cyprus made a funny video and suddenly they’re turned scapegoats for the entire web industry?

I guess they’re to blame in the housing led recession and over leveraged financials led by bank managers…

Oh well…

Tags: Humor, Technology, Web 2.0

We’re living in an age of technological revolution in the computer and information industry – the age of utility computing. Connected to the internet’s global computing grid, massive information-processing plants are pumping software code and data to our homes and businesses.

Armed with new business models and technologies that take advantage of the internet cloud, new competitors like Google, SalesForce.com and Amazon are threatening traditional software giants like Microsoft, SAP and Dell by changing the way software is built, sold, delivered and maintained.

On the way to making computing an efficient, cheap global commodity we’re facing new difficult business and technological (and some might even add political) challenges. There’s a lot of exciting innovation ahead…

Certainly, such a technology tidal wave deserve its fair share of coverage, which now comes in the form of the recently launched Cloud Avenue – A new blog, edited by Zoli Erdos and Ben Kepes, that will focus on cloud computing topics.

Cloud Avenue where, working with a few like-minded bloggers we’ll focus on the intersection of Cloud Computing, especially SaaS and Business, ranging from small business to enterprise.

… We also have our CloudLab – for product / service reviews.  Yes, we will report on products, but do not strive to be a mini-TechCrunch: we have no intention to report about everything new.  We’re not a news-blog.  We’d rather sit back, analyze a market, find key players, then produce a series of reviews / comparative analysis.  Quality before quantity or urgency.

Launched a little over a week ago, it has been pretty active with over 20 posts already. Below are just some of my personal highlights from the first week:

• What would I do if I was Steve Ballmer?
  I must say I have to disagree with most of what’s there. Still worth a read…
• Oracle Open World’08 Key Note – Cloudy Announcements!!
• Anti-Virus in the Cloud
• Cloud Computing: The myths, realities and everything else – Part 1 & Part 2
• Cloud Computing Making Forensics Easier

So join me in welcoming Cloud Avenue to the blogsphere

Oh, and one more thing…
I’ve been invited by Zoli to join the CloudAve writing team and I’m definitely going to make some writing effort there. Should be interesting…

Tags: Cloud Computing, SaaS, Technology, Utility Computing

The following Microsoft Sync commercial is just inspiring:

Now if my car can do it why can’t my Media Player? What about Media Center integration? And maybe even speech recognition software for smart home (Alon, that can be a cool demo for your MediaCenter lectures)?

The next step in web computing is definitely machine-to-machine interfaces where all appliances are connected to the web and expose interfaces for communicating with each other.
It also means the the next step in web is taking interaction outside of the browser and enabling it anywhere anytime and in this respect speech should be one of main interaction interfaces on the next leap of “web” applications… (Speech is the new AJAX?)

So when’s the day where I could just sit on the couch, push some triangle thing on my shirt and say “Captain Eran to Fridge, Got any milk left?”

Tags: Microsoft, Microsoft Sync, Speech, Technology, Web 3.0