Category: Mobile

Communication through voice, sms/text, mobile internet, basic features to mobile touchscreen interfaces, GPS capabilities, and the emerging “augmented reality” features, and mobile projection.

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Journal: Microsoft Bing Plus Facebook

11 Society, Commerce, Cultural Intelligence, Methods & Process, Mobile, Tools
Full Story Online

SEATTLE — Microsoft is starting to incorporate what your friends do on Facebook right into its Bing search engine.

A new feature rolling out Wednesday will start showing what Facebook friends “like” on the search results page.

On Facebook and sites around the Web, people can click a “like” button to show support or share information with friends. On Bing, if you search for a topic in the news, articles friends have shared on Facebook might appear. Restaurants and movies that friends have “liked” could help you decide what to do on your next date.

Microsoft has been working with Facebook since 2006.

The feature could help distinguish Bing from Google, which only has access to information users make public.

Phi Beta Iota: The various Microsoft initiatives are both inspiring and troubling–inspiring because Microsoft is clearly struggling with its inner demons and reaching out to “not invented here” options; and troubling because there does not appear to be any over-arching strategy.  Amazon is the mother lode for intelligent content–when will Microsoft bite the bullet and make Jeff Bezos an offer he cannot refuse?  THAT will be a game changer.

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Journal: Microsoft Pinned Between Google and Oracle-IBM

Commerce, Commercial Intelligence, Methods & Process, Mobile
Full Story Online

Oracle-IBM pact cuts Android off at the knees

Larry Ellison's latest move could seriously undermine Android, no matter how Oracle's courtroom battles with Google turn out

Here's the story in a nutshell: Android apps are written in a restricted dialect of the Java language, which meant the platform had a vast and skilled developer community from the moment it was released. The components of Android that allow it to run Java code are based on the Harmony project, an open source implementation of Java created under the aegis of the Apache Software Foundation. The vast majority of the code in Harmony was actually written by IBM employees, because Big Blue decided Harmony would be where it would direct its Java development efforts.

But that's no longer the case; the core of the IBM-Oracle deal is that those employees will now switch their attention to OpenJDK, Oracle's in-house open source Java implementation. The move completely sucks the wind out of Harmony's sails, with Tim Ellison, one of Harmony's senior developers, essentially conceding the project will probably fold in short order.

Read more…

Phi Beta Iota: Fascinating at multiple levels.  From where we sit, Google is diving, Oracle-IBM are spreading out, and Microsoft is standing pat without a handheld to desktop to cloud concept of operations for what one IBM genius called Service Science.  Apple has trademarked “There's an app for that.”  Stupid but a perfect set-up for Microsoft, or somebody to figure out the only proper answer is “We don't sell apps, we provide answers on demand.”   Microsoft has can only be called “unrealized potential.”  Amazon who?

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Journal: Army Shines with Bee Deaths But Case Still Open

01 Agriculture, Commerce, Commercial Intelligence, Earth Intelligence, Military, Mobile
Full Article Online

Possible Cause of Bee Die-Off Is Found

The New York Times

By KIRK JOHNSON

Published: October 6, 2010

DENVER — It has been one of the great murder mysteries of horticulture: what is killing off the honeybees?

Since 2006, 20 to 40 percent of the bee colonies in the United States alone have suffered “colony collapse.” Suspected culprits ranged from pesticides to genetically modified food.

Now, a unique partnership — of military scientists and entomologists — appears to have achieved a major breakthrough: identifying a new suspect, or two.

A fungus tag-teaming with a virus have apparently interacted to cause the problem, according to a paper by Army scientists in Maryland and bee experts in Montana in the online science journal PLoS One.

Phi Beta Iota: This is a very exciting story, and a real accomplishment by the US Army team applying Cold War bio-chemical skill sets to what may be the single greatest threat to US agriculture other than vanishing water.  The Times did not, however, reference other causes of bee disorientation and dysfunction, such as cell phones and other electromagnetic pollutants.

See Also:

Bees Vanish, and Scientists Race for Reasons (April 24, 2007)

Journal: Electromagnetics, Bees, & Agriculture

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Reference: Blogs and Bullets–No Brains for Now

Cultural Intelligence, Mobile, Technologies, Tools
Full Source Online

Tip of the Hat to  Pierre Levy at LinkedIn.

Phi Beta Iota: This excellent but truncated report has the same problem we saw in Global Governance 2025–it just does not “get” the dual facts that a) governments no longer rule and b) connecting is not the main event–sense-making is the main event and it is 5-10 years off.  THAT will be the revolution.  Better–and earlier–insights remain those in 2002 Pinkham (US) Citizen Advocacy in the Information Age and Reference: Social Search 101.   The future was defined in 1989, then again in 1992, 1998, and on and on.  Connecting all humans with all information in all languages all the time is the end-game.  Anything less lacks integrity.

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TED: Sugata Mitra–The child-driven education

04 Education, Academia, Civil Society, Collective Intelligence, Mobile, TED Videos

TED Short Video

Sugata Mitra: The child-driven education

About this talk

Education scientist Sugata Mitra tackles one of the greatest problems of education — the best teachers and schools don't exist where they're needed most. In a series of real-life experiments from New Delhi to South Africa to Italy, he gave kids self-supervised access to the web and saw results that could revolutionize how we think about teaching.

About Sugata Mitra

Sugata Mitra's “Hole in the Wall” experiments have shown that, in the absence of supervision or formal teaching, children can teach themselves and each other, if they're motivated by curiosity… Full bio and more links

Phi Beta Iota: Harrison Owen recommended this.  He has spent his life nurturing self-organizing systems.  This is one of the most moving, impactful ideas and presentations we have seen in our lifetime.  This is one of the keys.

See Also:

Worth a Look: Open Space Re-Invention

Review: Wave Rider: Leadership for High Performance in a Self-Organizing World

Reference: Peggy Holman Free Video on Emergence

Review: The World Is Open–How Web Technology Is Revolutionizing Education

2010 INTELLIGENCE FOR EARTH: Clarity, Diversity, Integrity, & Sustainability

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Hyperlink-Notes on the Future of Education (and the future is now) from Bits to Bots

04 Education, Augmented Reality, Mobile, Technologies

There are differences between “learning” and “education,” but hopefully more people can be inspired to blur the two further than we currently see happening.

Open Courseware, Audio and Video:
Open Courseware Consortium
M.I.T. Open Courseware
M.I.T. open courseware YouTube channel
List of courses by subject (May 2007)
The University of Chicago on iTunes U,
University of South Carolina at iTunes U,
Stanford at iTunes U, Depaul at iTunes U,
Univ of South Florida at iTunes U,
Harvard “Extension” at iTunes U
Udemy.com
Khan Academy (videos)
Audible.com
“World In Time”

+ Gutenberg Project (for text)
+ Scrape Torrent (books, videos, etc)
+ Clips and Documentaries at YouTube (and the YouTube Time Machine), Google video, Journeyman Films, TED, live online courses.

Video talks
Sir Ken Robinson: school kills creativity
Sir Ken Robinson makes the case for a radical shift from standardized schools to personalized learning — creating conditions where kids’ natural talents can flourish.

Sir Ken Robinson: Bring on the learning revolution
Entertaining and profoundly moving case for creating an education system that nurtures (rather than undermines) creativity.

Jesse Schell: Visions of the Gamepocalypse (entertaining and fascinating)
Jesse Schell explores the social, cognitive, and technological trends in computer game design and use.

+ Affordable mobile devices, tablets
+ Example of a digital textbook

Continue reading “Hyperlink-Notes on the Future of Education (and the future is now) from Bits to Bots”

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Omidyar Network to Invest $55M in Internet + Mobile Tech for Gov Transparency and Economic Empowerment

03 Economy, Mobile, Open Government

September 21, 2010, NEW YORK CITY — Omidyar Network today announced it will dedicate $55 million to fund technology investments that provide people around the world with information, tools and services that improve their quality of life. The philanthropic investment firm pledged $30 million to progress government transparency and $25 million in support of mobile innovation benefitting people in emerging markets. The announcement was made at the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) annual meeting in New York City.

“We are at the cusp of understanding technology’s potential for creating positive change in the world,” said Matt Bannick, managing partner, Omidyar Network. “Through these commitments, Omidyar Network will support technologies that provide citizens with information and insight about their government, and fund mobile platforms that reach new markets with life-changing services.”

Each of Omidyar Network’s CGI commitments will be fulfilled over the next three years, and include both for-profit investments and nonprofit grants.

  • Technology for Transparency: Omidyar Network will invest $30 million to advance government transparency both domestically and abroad. To fulfill the commitment, Omidyar Network will identify and support organizations that use technology to provide access to information and tools necessary for citizens to participate in the governing process and shape outcomes important to them. This effort was created on the belief that open access to information and transparent systems increase the public's knowledge of government activities, leading to a more informed and engaged society that can hold its officials accountable. This new commitment expands Omidyar Network’s government transparency work, which to date has provided support to organizations such as the Sunlight Foundation, mySociety, and Global Integrity.
  • Opportunity through Mobile: Omidyar Network’s second CGI commitment sets aside $25 million to harness the power of mobile technology in emerging markets. Omidyar Network will back innovative entrepreneurs who use mobile platforms to connect people with vital resources in areas such as financial services and banking, health care, agriculture, commerce, and education. Across these sectors, Omidyar Network will invest in mobile technologies that break new ground in improving access to services, reaching underserved populations, and driving large-scale social impact. This new commitment builds on Omidyar Network’s experience supporting mobile initiatives at organizations such as FrontlineSMS, Ushahidi, and Opportunity International.

www.omidyar.com