Cloud and mobile computing represent two of the biggest technology trends today, with each pushing processing closer to the edge. Today, Encoding.com announced tools to make propagation of video content across mobile devices a simple click-and-go process for publishers, further solidifying the matchmaking of cloud and mobile.
We came back from the holiday weekend to a lot of predictions about the future of infrastructure and cloud opportunities, including a prediction on data warehousing being the next hot trend in storage, the latest version of Gartner’s cloud hype cycle and how Hurd-gate will impact Oracle.
Heat has long been the enemy of solar cells — high temperatures can cook a cell and most cells aren’t set up to take advantage of the heat beating down from the sun. But not to a group of Stanford researchers.
My previous post “6 Tips for Using Google Wave on your First Project” was really about the initial experience a client and I had with Google Wave (s goog), and some the early lessons we learned. While I would rank both of us as web-savvy early adopters, suffice it to say my wish list for Google Wave features has been growing fairly rapidly. Read More about My Google Wave Wish List: The Document Collaboration Edition
Many times, we want to find ways to give back, be more socially responsible, or make our lives more about service, but running a business can make it seem impossible to find the time to do anything other than the task immediately in front of us.
How can we find a way (and the time) to do more good in the world while still keeping up with the demands of our businesses? One solution, focus on one trait at a time.
First, make a list of all the traits you would like be (generous, responsible, helpful, supportive, etc.).
Under each item, list ways you can incorporate more of that particular trait into your daily life. For example, if you want to be more responsible within your community, you might consider sponsoring an area youth program or volunteering to maintain a local park.
Finally, set aside time each day and week to devote to your commitment. Even 15-30 minutes a day can make a big difference. If you could commit to just 15 minutes a day, 5 days per week, at the end of the year, you would have contributed more than 65 hours of your time to improving the world around you. That’s more than a week and a half (full time) of your attention!
[appreview]
title=Stuck Genie
image=https://gigaom.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/1/2009/06/appicon_stuck_genie.png
price=$1.99
url=http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=314420223&mt=8
rating=silver
[/appreview]
A genie, a load of balls, and an ancient labyrinth come together to create a frustrating, but fun, puzzler.
One of the big boys in the movie biz, Warner Bros., has been solidly churning out iPhone apps for the past few months. Most of these apps have been global franchises, though, including Terminator Salvation, Watchmen and — the double whammy of brand-names — LEGO Batman.
Without a movie, cartoon series, or line of toys, Stuck Genie is an entirely original game. Containing 73 puzzles, the game challenges you to complete each one and earn the highest score. Read More about App Review: Stuck Genie — There’s a Genie in Your iPhone
While in Hong Kong on a business trip recently, Oliver Goh was on his laptop playing around in a virtual world, when he realized he’d left the water running in his home back in Switzerland. He noticed this because the virtual world contained a recreation of his Swiss residence that pulled information about the home’s energy and water consumption in real time. The gauge that measures water use was blinking. No problem: After his avatar hit the right button, the real-world water valve in Switzerland turned off.
That’s one of the applications of the OpenShaspa Home Energy Kit, available starting tomorrow from the startup that Goh co-founded, also called Shaspa. Created with open-source components like Arduino circuit boards, the kit comes with a system that can monitor and control home power output with wireless sensors, and connect this data to mobile phone and Internet applications. (After reading Katie’s story on another open-source energy tool, ACme, Goh says he plans to add an OpenShaspa device driver that supports it.) Sensors for gas, water and other utility resources can be integrated into the control system, as well.
Read More about Eco Gamers: Manage Energy in a Virtual World with Shaspa
Taking note of every rejection from the App Store would be a full-time job, so we generally just report on ones that seem particularly ridiculous, or that involve a high-profile app or developer. Another recent rejection which may otherwise have gone unnoticed has proven interesting for another reason. That’s because while rejecting it, Apple (s aapl) gave the dev in question reason to believe that the content that was deemed offensive in his app might be allowable once iPhone OS 3.0 went live for the general public.
Makayama’s Newspaper(s), an app that provides consolidated access to a variety of major international newspapers, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, and, formerly, The Sun, was the app in question. It was The Sun, a popular UK daily, that caused the app to be initially rejected to begin with. As regular readers of that paper are likely aware, topless models are regularly included in one of its sections. Topless models are still a big no-no for the App Store, despite recent relaxation that has seen the rapid proliferation of bikini-clad models in a number of apps. Read More about Rumor Has It: Apple to Open the Door for More “Mature” Apps With iPhone 3.0
Mechanical Technology, Inc. (s MKTY), the Albany, N.Y.,-based parent of fuel-cell developer MTI Micro, said late Monday it’s voluntarily delisting its shares from Nasdaq. In a statement, MTI said its low share price (95 cents at Monday’s close) and the zombie-like trading activity – 21,000 shares a day on average over the last year, or less than a half a percent of its outstanding shares) just weren’t worth the expense and glamor of a Nasdaq listing.
Of course, it also didn’t help that, just last Tuesday, MTI received a letter from Nasdaq warning of an impending and involuntary delisting. So MTI is quitting Nasdaq just in time to avoid getting kicked off (the company said it was thinking of delisting even before Nasdaq’s warning).
Nasdaq pretty much bends over backwards to make it easy for companies to stay on the exchange. Once a stock is listed, it needs to meet at least one of three criteria: Net income from continuing operations of $500,000 in the last fiscal year, $35 million in market value of listed shares, or $2.5 million in stockholders’ equity. MTI had a net loss of at least $9.6 million for the past three years, a recent market cap below $5 million and, as of December 2008, $1.5 million in stockholder’s equity.
Read More about MTI’s Fuel Cell Dreams are Running on Empty
Many investors are seeing fund raising slow down, and the CalCEF Clean Energy Angel Fund is no exception. The fund, which in October said it had raised $9.3 million toward its goal of $20 million, is still working to raise the rest of the money. Representatives said it has raised “about half” of the cash so far.
The angel fund is a for-profit venture that the Clean Energy Fund, a nonprofit founded with $30 million from the Pacific Gas and Electric Company bankruptcy, launched last April. Susan Preston, the angel fund’s general manager, said the fund raising is taking longer than expected because of the recession. “We’re working very hard at it, but it’s a struggle right now, no question about it,” she said. “We’re talking to lots of people all over the place, and everyone is saying, ‘We’re sorry, we agree with what you’re doing, but we just don’t have money right now.'”
Read More about CalCEF Still Seeking Funds, Calls Raising Cash ‘a Struggle’
