Description: Two recent articles in the New York Times highlight two different aspects of a single phenomenon: we build powerful machines, their capabilities lead to unintended consequences, and they ensnare us in some unforeseen way. Source: Forbes.com. Date: Sept 20, 2011 The first discusses a new technology, an improvement, really, of a technology that’s been… Read more »
Posts By: Jim Clark
No Cards, No Cash. Just a Phone.
Description: Plenty of companies would love to get their hands on our wallets. But Google wants to go one step further: it wants to be our wallets. Source: NYT.com. Date: Sept 21, 2011 Its new phone software, called Google Wallet, is intended to replace the credit cards in our actual wallets. It does sound pretty… Read more »
Using the Webb to Investigate Jurors
Description: The internet is being seen as a legitimate way to screen jurors to see if they will benefit a particular case for one side or the other. There are two sides as the benifits and downsides of using theses technologies in this fashion. Source: Cnn.com Date: Sept 20, 2011 Questions for discussion: Do you… Read more »
Cloud Computing May be a Shot in the Arm our Economy Needs
Description: Economists and pundits have long feared the emergence of what they called “hollow corporations,” or businesses that don’t actually produce actual goods or services themselves, but instead act as brokers or intermediaries relying on networks of suppliers and partners. Source: Forbes .com. Date: Sept 19, 2011 Where are these services coming from? Look to… Read more »
How to increase your search engine optimization
Description: Every company wants to be the first listing in a Google search. Some spend thousands of dollars making sure their websites are search accessible. This process is called search engine optimization (SEO). It’s certainly legal and quite common. Source: USAToday .com. Date: Sept 16, 2011 Big problems arise when you employ illegal tactics, often… Read more »
Ticketmaster’s CEO Dishes on New Interactive Seat Maps
Description: We’re one of the few ecommerce companies that gets to connect with each of ourcustomers in person. They tell us where they will be at a given date and time, down to the exact seat location. So enhancing the event with geosocial is a cool part of the evolution of the experience and part… Read more »
Best Buy Gets Amazoned: Is It Doomed?
Description: Is it plausible to expect that Best Buy’s sales clerks will offer better advice than the many expert reviews on the Internet, augmented by the hundreds or thousands of customer reviews for Best Buy’s bread and butter products? Source: Forbes .com. Date: Sept 15, 2011 My friend, Paul Carroll, is peeved at Best Buy. … Read more »
Microsoft unveils a radically redesigned Windows 8
Description: Windows 8 is coming soon — and it looks nothing like the Windows you’re used to. Source: CNN .com. Date: Sept 14, 2011 Microsoft formally introduced Windows 8 on Tuesday to thousands of software developers gathered at the company’s annual Build conference in Anaheim, Calif. The software giant said it reimagined Windows for the… Read more »
Writing Machines — Their Uses and Meaning
Description: A Sunday business column in The New York Times looked at the work of a start-up, Narrative Science, that combines computer science and journalism. Its software takes data and converts it into stories — short summary-style articles so far, but ones that don’t really read as if they were written by a machine. Source:… Read more »
Data Analytics: Crunching the Future
Description: New analytics technology is predicting behavior—and building businesses. In the early 2000s a wave of startups made it possible to gather huge volumes of data and analyze it in record speed—à la SecureAlert. A retailer such as Macy’s (M) that once pored over last season’s sales information could shift to looking instantly at how… Read more »