Public internet access via private wireless hotspots
Broadband access is increasingly necessary to get the best out of your communications. But what about when you are away from the home or office? The team in the IST project OBAN suggest using the spare capacity in residential wireless hotspots.
[Note: you’ll find more information at the OBAN project website and graphics in this introduction.
Source: IST Results, October 31, 2006
3-D Ultrasound Scanner Could Guide Robotic Surgeries
Duke University engineers have shown that a three-dimensional ultrasound scanner they developed can successfully guide a surgical robot.
The scanner could find application in various medical settings, according to the researchers. They said the scanner ultimately might enable surgeries to be performed without surgeons, a capability that could prove valuable in space stations or other remote locations.
Source: Duke University News, October 30, 2006
Computing, 2016: What Won’t Be Possible?
In a decade, it is likely that the impact of computing will go deeper into the sciences and spread more into the social sciences and that policy issues will loom large.In a decade, it is likely that the impact of computing will go deeper into the sciences and spread more into the social sciences and that policy issues will loom large.
What’s next? That was the subject of a symposium in Washington this month held by the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board, which is part of the National Academies and the nation’s leading advisory board on science and technology. Joseph F. Traub, the board’s chairman and a professor at Columbia University, titled the symposium “2016.”
Source: Steve Lohr, The New York Times, October 31, 2006 (Free registration, permanent link)
The Long Arm Of The Cell Phone
They’re becoming increasingly sophisticated tracking devices popular in social networking circles.
Now more cell services are incorporating location-based satellite technology and maps from the likes of Navteq Corp., making all kinds of social applications possible. Services such as Dodgeball.com, Geocaching.com, and Plazes.com help satellite-linked users find restaurants, nightclubs, and movie theaters, and learn where friends in their network are congregating. All they need to do is press a few buttons to pull up the best route to a desired destination.
Source: BusinessWeek Magazine, November 6, 2006 issue
Most of the attention during the current political season has focused on questions such as whether Arnold, “The Governator,” will be re-elected in California or whether Barack Obama will steal the start of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign thunder.
But setting aside political-celebrity hype, the bigger question is: Are the mechanisms in place to ensure accurate election results?
Source: Eric J. Sinrod, for CNET News.com, November 1, 2006
Driving Impulse Shopping with a Smart Cart
Radio frequency identification (RFID) technology may not only be useful for streamlining inventory and supply chains: it could also make shoppers swarm. A new study suggests that supermarkets could increase their revenues by using information gleaned from RFID tags to make shoppers behave like an impulse-buying collective.
Source: Duncan Graham-Rowe, Technology Review, November 2, 2006
