Here’s another great TED talk that I noticed a while back, this time on how modern innovation in the ancient art of paper folding has been driven some very contemporary ideas, namely the need for, and the specification of, a language for representing origami designs.
This got me thinking about a question I was recently asked, and indeed its a question I am frequently asked: “You are a computer scientist. So what do your do?”
What is the core of computer science if not representation and processes? In other words we study how to represent things (structures, states, facts, concepts, any sort of things really) and how to procedurally manipulate these representations. And this is what we mean by an algorithm: a simple set of steps that allow us to carry out a sequence of manipulations on a particular structure or state. And it is this very powerful and general notion that has, for example, and to get back on topic, facilitated so much creative innovation in the origami world leading not just to beautiful new folded forms but also to novel solutions to very challenging engineering problems.
Actually I dont think its a very good answer to the question about what I do. Doubtless this would lead the questioner to be even less sure about what I do for a living. Anyway, its all a lot more interesting than I make it sound in the TED video below so give it a look when you get a chance.
… now that’s more like it. My Apple-tuned consumer electronic sensibilities would just not allow me to use the original Kindle. It was just too much like a kids toy from the 1980’s.
The Kindle 2 is much more pleasing to behold. Smart, compact, and light. Perhaps the most exciting thing about Kindle 2 is that surely now we are seeing the missing piece to the Amazon business model — every book, ever published no more than 60 seconds away. Now that is compelling.
There is an interesting piece in the November issue of Fast Company which discussed green tech and the ability of sensors to measure every aspect of what we consume.
The articles points to a range of new apps that will contribute to a more complete and integrated view of our consumption patterns with a view to more accurately measuing our environmental impact.
Companies profiled include IBM, Agilewaves, and Recyclebank.
The piece touches on the new types of biz models that might emerge, such as incentive based points schemes around our green credentials.
Clearly this is all very relevant to the carbon calculator project. We can use the sensor web to measure all of our inputs (resources consumed) and outputs (work or exercise performed) and convert this into a credit/debit.
Last Friday Google launched their SearchWiki service for registered Google users. This has been in trial by Google for a while and it seem more than a little hasty for Google to launch this so quickly given that they are usually very reluctant to introduce any changes to their search.
SearchWiki is one of a growing number of social search services. In the case of Google their take on social search is a fairly simple one:
1. Users can manipulate results: pushing them up or down the rankings, removing results they dont like, and even adding in new URLs.
2. Users can comment on results.
3. Users can chose to view any changes and comments by other users.
One of the big limitations of all of this is that it happens at the level of a given SearchWiki and this basically means that any changes are associated with a specific query. So users can modify the results for a specific query and they can comment on any of the results for a specific query. This might be useful for users if they have a set of frequently used fixed queries but its limited for the majority of searches which are likely to rely on the use of a space or related queries. In our own research we have found exact matching queries to recur for around 10% of searches which greatly limits the value of SearchWiki.
An interesting point about BetterPlace is that it’s a platform play; the cars are the applications.
BP also benefits from a distributed storage solution that parallels googles distributed computation capability.
It’s great too that BP can store lumpy power into the network of batteries thereby making use of power that is generated during slow times. The car as a storage device for peak power. This really is rethinking the electric grid. Also power can be taken from the car during peak times when the car doesn’t need it.
So the key disruptive idea here is that the car is the solution to climate change, not the problem! Wow.
BP is basically offering personal transport as a service, again paralleling the new software industry.
Just back from a week’s skiing in Megéve, France, part of which included a half-day skiing the fabled Vallée Blanche. The Vallée Blanche or VB is a 17km route that starts at 3812 meters on the Aiguille du Midi and finishes (for us at least) at the Montenvers mountain rail terminus, although apparently you can get all of the way down to Chamonix itself in the right conditions.
The tension builds all of the way up the dramatic cable car ride from Chamonix,. This delivers you to the top of an arete, whichyou walk down (gripping the guide-rope with all of your might!). Then its skis on and off you go. We were sensible enough to go with a guide, which is to be recommended for reasons of safety (the VB is dangerous and those who wander off the safe path can easily fall to their death into the glacier ice) and education. The first stage is a pretty straight-forward off-piste run (probably equivalent to a blue in steepness, although the deep snow makes it a challenge). There are some very steep sections at the mid-point complete with mougels, which to my mind make this a black run. And then the mer de glace offers a gentle finish. All in all a fantastic experience!
This can give you around 2,800 meters vertical in the amazing scenery of the Mont Blanc range. It is best skied mid-week rather than on a Friday when it is a favourite fin de semaine excursion. You can do a number of VBs in a day but most people will content themselves with a single descent.
Here’s a link to a very interesting recent NY Times article on some of the things that go on deep in the bowel’s of the Googleplex. The article discusses the work of the fabled `search quality’ team who are responsible for tweaking Google’s complex ranking algorithm to ensure that we all continue to enjoy the best possible search results. The article is surprisingly revealing given that Google is usually exceptionally secretive about what goes on under the covers….Enjoy!
Ever wondered quite how much people trust in Google to serve up the right results in the right order? We’ve wondered about this for a while now. And in recent research, published in this month’s Communications of the ACM, we demonstrate that people do seem to implicitly trust Google’s ranking, even in the face of manipulated rankings.
A very interesting online video for those interested in all things entrepreneurial. Guy Kawasaki heads up Garage Technology Ventures, an early-stage VC firm and is an ex-Apple Fellow and a columnist for Entrepreneur Magazine. This particular vide has a high signal-to-noise-ratio and makes good viewing for anyone interested in technology start-ups.
