If you ask Aaron Grant how wearable smart glasses have fared on the consumer market over the last decade, he’ll jump to tell you “there have been no hits.” But that isn’t stopping him from his latest venture: selling wearable smart glasses. Grant and his fellow co-founders of Waterloo-based North, Matthew Bailey and Stephen Lake, have spent the last four… Read more »
Posts Categorized: disruptive technology
Stanford researchers develop a new type of soft, growing robot
A newly developed vine-like robot can grow across long distances without moving its whole body. It could prove useful in search and rescue operations and medical applications. Source: Stanford University News Date: April 20th, 2018 Link: https://news.stanford.edu/2017/07/19/stanford-researchers-develop-new-type-soft-growing-robot/ Discussion 1) Another day, another type of robot! What sorts of things could you use this robot for? 2) Imagine you… Read more »
Technology reveals fear and other emotions
The fear levels of an audience have been measured to show how machines are beginning to reveal people’s deepest feelings. The demonstration was part of a talk given by Dolby Labs chief scientist Poppy Crum at the TED conference in Vancouver. The ability to hide emotions is becoming “a thing of the past”, she said. The professor believes… Read more »
SoFi Plans to Start Rolling Out Deposit Accounts Next Month
Social Finance Inc. said it will start offering deposit accounts and debit cards to some customers next month, the first major new product under Chief Executive Officer Anthony Noto. The San Francisco-based company is looking to branch into various financial services Source: Bloomberg Technology News Date: April 6th, 2018 Link: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-04-05/sofi-plans-to-start-rolling-out-checking-accounts-next-month Discussion 1) Look up SoFi and see what it… Read more »
‘Child porn links could make Bitcoin blockchain illegal’
Researchers in Germany have found hundreds of links to child sexual abuse imagery on Bitcoin’s blockchain. This could make using the blockchain, a digital ledger of crypto-currency transactions, illegal. The study, from RWTH Aachen University, also said other files on the blockchain may violate copyright and privacy laws. Researchers said they had found eight files with sexual content…. Read more »
Amazon Is Turning These Four Cities Into Grocery Battlegrounds
The Amazon-fueled grocery price war may have finally arrived. News that Amazon.com will start offering two-hour delivery from Whole Foods stores in four U.S. cities has the food world buzzing that competition is about to heat up in an industry that survives on razor-thin margins. In the six months since Amazon acquired the organic grocer, the e-commerce giant has… Read more »
IBM, Maersk Form New Blockchain Company for International Cargo
IBM and A.P. Moeller-Maersk A/S have started a company that will use new technologies such as blockchain, a digital ledger best known for underpinning bitcoin, to track cargo movements and automate paperwork for shipping across international borders. Source: BusinessWeek Date: January 16th, 2018 Link: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-16/ibm-maersk-form-new-blockchain-company-for-international-cargo Discussion 1) It is becoming more and more apparent that blockchain technology is going to… Read more »
Bitcoin gamble: Canadian couple pours life savings into bitcoin mine
Mining for cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin isn’t the first “crazy” idea Dan Ingram has come up with, according to his wife Amanda Ryland. “Most of his endeavours have been profitable,” Ryland said. “They may sound crazy, but I trust him.” Entrepreneurs at heart, the Langley, B.C., couple sees real potential in the somewhat complicated world of cryptocurrencies. But… Read more »
Driverless trucks are coming to Canada and the impact will be profound
Winter whiteout conditions like this Manitoba storm last March can bring traffic to a halt, but some experts say when driving conditions get bad, autonomous trucks will be better, and safer, than those with a human behind the wheel. Source: CBC News Date: November 21, 2017 Link: http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/autonomous-trucks-economy-1.4403057 Discussion 1) “…autonomous trucks will change our lives, and most Canadians… Read more »
Autonomous ships on the horizon for Great Lakes
One day the freighter you see coming up the Detroit River might not have a crew aboard. The day of autonomous ships is soon dawning. A Norwegian company will be launching a container vessel next year that it expects will not only navigate a river in Norway fully autonomously by 2020, but be battery powered as… Read more »
Leading Titles
Introduction to Information Systems, 3rd Canadian Binder Ready Version Update Edition
R. Kelly Rainer, Casey G. Cegielski, Ingrid Splettstoesser-Hogeterp, Cristobal Sanchez-Rodriguez
ISBN: 978-1-119-13385-8
August 2015, © 2016
CDN $98.95; CDN $114.95