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Fuell Cell: The Battery Revolution

Radu Tyrsina — Mon, 14 May 2012 10:20:44 +0000

In a world where the use of alternative energy sources has become crucial to preserving the ecosystems that have been nurturing us since the dawn of man, one of the most recent and most promising new technologies is the fuel cell. What is that, you might wonder? Well, a fuel cell is a practical device that generates electricity via a chemical reaction.

Fuel Cell Technology: What we Need in Our Devices

Every single fuel cell has two electrodes, a positive one and a negative one – an anode and cathode basically. The reactions that take place between the two electrodes are the ones who produce electricity in the end. Hydrogen is the fuel used but for the reactions to occur the cells will also need oxygen. You might remember that Liliputian’s battery is based on this technology, as well.

One very interesting and positive aspect of fuel cells is that they manage to produce electricity without polluting the environment, and that’s because hydrogen and oxygen – needed in the reaction combine to produce a neutral byproduct, which is water. The actual purpose of a fuel cell is to produce electrical current that can be used outside the cell. Think of powering motors or luminous light bulbs in the city.

No Harm Done to Nature

Because of the way electricity works, this current will find its way back to the fuel cell, thus completing an electrical circuit. Hydrogen atoms will enter a fuel cell at the anode where a chemical reaction takes place so the atoms are freed from their electrons. The hydrogen atoms will be “ionized” and will start carrying electrical charges. The negative electrons move on to provide the current through wires.

Fuel cells are mostly classified by their electrolyte type, which is at the heart of the fuel cell process. Currently we can find six types of electrolytes that will probably find their way to commercial use pretty soon:

Molten carbonate
Phosphoric acid
Solid oxide
Polymer electrolyte membrane
Direct methanol
Alkaline

Fuel Cell Vehicles?

You see, a single fuel cell produces a very meager amount of energy. In order to produce a usable amount, a lot of fuel cells will have to be glued together which is called a fuel cell stack. When this is done, the resulted stack is enough to fuel a car and even a truck.
Honda is one of the major car companies that has set its gaze upon the fuel cell and started testing prototypes ever since 1999.

In 2002, it even managed to deliver fuel cell vehicles to the Japanese Cabinet Office and to Los Angeles but that doesn’t mean they are close to developing the technology for the masses yet. In November 2007, Honda unraveled the FCX Clarity advanced fuel electric vehicle that featured a superb output of 100kW. It sounds almost too good to be true. Good this technology be embedded inside self-driving cars, as well?

Still an Expensive Piece of Technology

At the moment, fuel cells are very expensive to produce and cost about 4500 dollars per kilowatt as opposed to 800 to 1000 dollars per kilowatt for a diesel engine. Some problems with hydrogen being used as fuel emerged as well, because as you well might now, Hydrogen is one of the most volatile substances that can be found on planet Earth, thus making it very difficult to store.

Hydrogen used on the fuel cells has to be in a very pure state, otherwise it will end up damaging the catalyst. Hydrogen is not easily extracted and must come from natural sources like water or natural gas thus adding more costs to the process. The catalyst material itself is very expensive since it is made from one of the most expensive materials on Earth – platinum. So we could end up facing a platinum drainage if we would rely solely on it for energy creation.

Converting Chemical Energy

On the other hand, fuel cells might prove to be extremely advantageous. As discussed above, fuel cells convert chemical energy instantly and directly into electricity eliminating the combustion process. Therefore, a fuel cell will not be governed by thermodynamic laws and could achieve high efficiencies in energy conversion terms. Also due to their nature of doing business, fuel cells are very quiet.

This might allow fuel cells to be used in residential and living areas where noise is undesirable. Due to their lack of moving parts, Fuel Cells also have a low maintenance cost. Fuel cells could be applied in other fields, as well. The most amazing application of fuel cells comes from the world of consumer technology.

Smartphones, Tablets: The Perfect Destination for Fuel Cell Technology?

Massachusetts-based Lilliputian Systems Inc. just announced it will release under the Brookstone banner a pocket size fuel cell which holds enough power to fully charge an iPhone for about 10-15 times (see our article about how to increase the battery life for iPhone, if you don’t have money for something like this). The fuel cell comes with a USB port and is the size of a thicker smartphone. The power comes from the cartridges filled with lighter fluid. Pretty ingenious. And Lilliputian isn’t the only company doing research in the business.

RIM, as well, seems to be interested in joining the fuel cell wagon. They have filled some new patents regarding fuel cells. They involve the frame of the device and the “tank”, thus showcasing a curious model that we have not yet seen before. Here’s how the patent description sounds like:

“A mobile device having: a keyboard; a printed circuit board having at least one contact responsive to the keyboard; and a fuel cell assembly having: a fuel cell located between the keyboard and the printed circuit board, the fuel cell having a membrane and at least one aperture corresponding with the at least one contact; a tank adapted to store a fuel for the fuel cell; and piping connecting the tank with the fuel cell, where the fuel cell ventilates through the keyboard. Alternatively, the fuel cell acts as the printed circuit board and at least one contact for the keyboard is printed onto the fuel cell.”

How Much More to Wait?

To make a point, fuel cells seem to have a good shot into being incorporated somewhere in smaller technology for the moment, so the ideas above seem to be very valid and useful, but there’s certainly going to be a while until we see them implemented into something major like powering up a household or a truck.

Certainly, fuell cell technology will find its way into the smart home of the future. Before we’ll become fully wireless, I hope to see devices with fuel cell technology appearing more and more on the market. Smartphones like Samsung Galaxy S3 don’t impress me anymore, to be honest, because they show a gradual evolution, from handset to handset. My smartphone, tablet, laptop needs a much, much bigger and safer battery life. Give me that and take my money.

© Raju PP for Technically Personal!, 2012. This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact us, so we can take legal action immediately. If you are on Twitter you can follow me @rajupp! | Permalink |

The Self Driving Car: The Future of Transportation?

Radu Tyrsina — Fri, 11 May 2012 11:48:42 +0000

Do you remember good old Cartoon Network? Not the commercial CN channel it has turn into today, but the fun, refreshing entity it used to be 10 or 15 years ago when some of us were growing up? Cartoon Network used to stream a futuristic show about a family that lived in the future – they were called the Jetsons.

Remember how they had flying cars and how they could command the car to take them wherever they wanted if they did not feel like doing the job themselves? Well, flying cars might still be the figment of imagination, but cars that drive themselves are becoming a reality as we sit here and speak.

The Self Driving Car, the First Step Towards a Safe Transportation System

Google, for example is following up on its strategy at trying its hand at everything humanly possible and since last year, has been focusing efforts and funds in order to develop a program using Toyota Priuses that is supposedly going to let cars in California drive up the freeway without little or no driver input at all.

Why is this such a good idea you might be wondering? Well, because computers have a reaction time so much faster than a human’s for starters. Plus, a smart car could communicate with other cars in the manner that aircrafts do while in flight in order to avoid collision. Already, features that make the driver’s job easier have started to pop in recent car models like steering or breaking facilities and in some major cases, software that overrule human command in order to prevent crashes.

Google and Car Manufacturers Start Developing Self-Driving Car Prototypes

Bill Ford, one of the chairmen for the notorious Ford company, suggested that car companies need to get more interested in the problem of developing autonomous vehicles. Not only will they help dissipate the annoying traffic jams but could make room for more cars on the overcrowded roads. One of the companies that is very interested in the development of the self sufficient car is Volvo.

Dr. Erik Coelingh has been leading the development team in Sweden and has managed to design a technology that involves one lead car feeding information to other driverless cars in the back.

“If something unexpected happens on the road, such as construction or a deer in the road, the human driver will brake and send commands back to the other cars”

stated Coelingh.

An Autonomous Car Could Save Lives

Let’s go back to Google and its endeavors. The company is so advanced in its efforts of creating the perfect car that drives itself that it has already begun testing some prototypes and so far, it has accumulated more than 190, 000 miles of city traffic, highway traffic and even mountain roads. Of course, the cars are not even close to ready to being launched on the market, but the testing phase is an important factor that marks the fact that Google is not just fooling around, it actually means business.

Google has released some details and technical videos of the project in order to showcase its strategy for avoiding road accidents, congestions and fuel consumption. Google engineer Chris Urmson is the tech lead of the project and he explained that the core of the car lies in a laser range finder that sits above the roof of the car. The device is actually a Velodyne 64-beam laser that produces a very detailed 3D map of the environment. The car is then apt to produce different types of models by comparing and combining laser measurements with the accurate maps. The car is also packed with sensors that will detect anything, plus four extra radars that will detect and interpret traffic lights and a GPS.

How Real is a Self-Driving Car?

Yes, novelty like this will certainly become very attractive to drivers at first and carmakers can snatch some nice amounts of revenues. But as soon as users will get over the futuristic detail and begin to expect such features to become a standard a problem might arise. Seatbelts, airbags and electronic stability control were also hip at one point but they became mainstream in quite a short while and now represent a strict requirement in all newly manufactured American cars. Europe will follow in 2014.

When the novelty wears up and the compulsory routine begins, this tweaks become just another manufacturing cost. Take for example the rear-view cameras – the American government wanted to make them compulsory by 2014 but they were forced to post-pone the plans due to the insatisfaction of the car manufacturers. I will be glad if I’ll see, at least, the electric car becoming more popular…

See the Big Picture

And consider this. What if the knowing that the cars cannot produce accidents will prompt drivers to take more risks? Even if some cars are getting smarter by the minute, we have to ensure people are well educated and prepared for such a breakthrough. You have to realize that a self-driving car doesn’t mean you are out of your car and it works by itself! That could be possible in the near 50 years, but I would still be reluctant towards that idea.

I would accept to live in a society of totally self-driving cars that would perform commercial services: say, mail cars, delivery cars and so on. But the purpose of a self driving-car is well depicted in the above picture: a road train. In these situation, a self-driving car is much needed. Or, let’s say you are tired, depressed or you just somebody just called and delivered you a bad news. But think about how the world could look like with a well thought transportation system, free of human errors…

Lessons From Steve Jobs That You Need to Know

Radu Tyrsina — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 11:20:08 +0000

You can love or hate Apple but you can’t neglect the genius at its helm for so many years. Steve Jobs’ experience with Apple has been pretty unbelievable, when you think about it. He created Apple in the garage of his parents in 1976 and 9 years after he had to abandon its own child. 12 years afer that, in 1997, he returned to save Apple from bankruptcy and look what he managed to achieve in 14 years. He has built world’s richest and most charismatic company.

I have previously envisioned a future for Apple and how it can become a superhero company, one that would change the world, fight hunger and boost scientific breakthrough, let’s hope there are chances for that to happen.

Life Lessons From Steve Jobs

Building such a mastodon as Apple hasn’t been easy and would have been impossible without a strict set of laws or, at least, business rules. Many of them are very powerful motivational advices that you could implement in life or in your business. Steve Jobs has learnt these things during his involvment in the personal computing field, music, digital publishing and even retail stores. His accomplishments will be studied by business gurus and gradually implemented in business books. What he has managed to achieve will become a philosphy of creating awesome products.

In the absolutely astonishing Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson you will explore many details from his life. In a past article, we’ve written about some interesting titbits relating to 8 notorious CEO’s where we have tried to bring some known facts about Steve Jobs. However, Walter Isaacson compelling book of 650 pages will reveal much more to you. Another interesting book is Ken Segall’s “Insanely Simple: The Obsession That Drives Apple’s Success”. We’re basing our research mainly on these books. I am not sure which of these advices is the best, so there’s no point in enumerating them. For me, all of them are pure gold.

Always Stay Focused

Steve Jobs was a Zen Buddhist and it seems that he has found a lot of power and strength in buddhism. In a very interesting read, Walter Isaacson tried to extract the main points in Steve Jobs’ business code. By staying focused, Jobs managed to save Apple from bankruptcy. He realized that Apple was making too many products and not focusing on just a few.

Later one, near his passing, Jobs shared the “secret” with Larry Page, saying that he should focus on a limited number of products if he doesn’t want to end up like Microsoft, creating adequate products. What we can learn from this is that it’s much better to focus on your strengths and try to highlight and further develop them, then trying to improve all your charateristics. People will remember for your greatest achievements.

Make Everything Simple

Simpler is always better
Simple names are superior
Simplicity is human
Simplicity works in retail

Steve Jobs would say that if you need to carry your guide book along with your gadget, then you’ve done a bad job. And it makes sense when you see kids playing on iPads; it means the products are very intuitive and made according to our natural needs. Maybe Steve Jobs’ love for simplicity started at his first job at Atari or maybe when he has decided to make the first mouse with a single button. And if you think about it, simplicity is also part of the buddhist way of living. We can’t ignore Jonathan Ive‘s implication in the design, that’s for sure:

“For example, to have no screws on something, you can end up having a product that is so convoluted and so complex. The better way is to go deeper with the simplicity, to understand everything about it and how it’s manufactured”

If you look at the iPod, you can see the impact of simplicity, both in terms of design and names (the Android army has a nice line-up of rivals already). The products that Apple made have short, unforgettable names. The same goes for design. Steve Jobs wasn’t involved only in hardware products, he also wanted to be sure that the software and programs offered to users would also be very simple and intuitive.

Simplicity works in Apple’s design, in Apple’s explanation for products (instead of saying the iPod with 5GB they preferred to say “1,000 songs in your pockets”) and simplicity is present in retail, through Apple Stores, as well. More and more stores are popping across the world and if you’ll enter one, you’ll see how simple, natural and in the right place everything seems.

Satisfy All Needs Inside a Single System

Apple is not only a brand, it is also an ecosystem that is designed for the user to have all its needs satisfied. If you’ve got a song, you must be able to listen to it on all your iDevices (this has been further improved with the introduction of iCloud). Jobs didn’t create the iPhone, iPad or other products and left them like that. He made sure that customers will stay with Apple, inside a closed system, without having to request help from others. Is there another company that managed to do that?

From putting chips inside the iPhone and delivering it to your home, Apple has made sure that you will be pleased and there won’t be any reasons for you to switch sides with another company. As Jobs himself said, people are busy, they want their products to work and not give them further hassle. Albeit there will always be mistakes in Apple’s products (like recent issues with the new iPad), you will have pleasant feeling you’re part of a brilliantly designed system.

Products Matter, Not Profits

Profits matter too, that’s for sure, but if you’ve managed to create a revolutionary product or a very intutive one, profits are sure to come, right? And we have to ask ourselves one thing – has Apple became the wealthiest company in the world because they focused on profits or because they remained focused on building great products. If you’re looking at the global shipments of iPhones, you’ll see that they are on a rising trend. Did Apple focus on profits or they’ve just followed some strict, incredibly yielding rules?

Steve Jobs’ words:

“My passion has been to build an enduring company where people were motivated to make great products. Everything else was secondary. Sure, it was great to make a profit, because that was what allowed you to make great products. But the products, not the profits, were the motivation. Sculley flipped these priorities to where the goal was to make money. It’s a subtle difference, but it ends up meaning everything—the people you hire, who gets promoted, what you discuss in meetings.”

Don’t Research The Market, Change It

Those of you that have finished universities with economical studies know that a very important step before starting a business or launching a product is to test it on focus groups. Jobs didn’t agree of such a method, relying on Henry Ford’s saying: “If I’d asked customers what they wanted, they would have told me – A faster horse!”. He was a master of intuition and managed to “guess” what would users need. Somehow, I can compare him to Mark Zuckerberg and his intuition to build a social network that would show people that they want and need to share things with others, that they want to be appreciated and connected.

Jobs referred to the majority of the products he’s made as products made for himself. So, when you make something for yourself, it’s obvious that you’re going to do a great product, one that you would be proud of. Don’t rely on focus groups because they won’t tell you how innovative your product should be. Rely on your intuition and try to see what do consumers need, without even having to ask them.

Top 30 Steve Jobs Quotes

There are so many advices that Steve Jobs has for us, so many quotes that simply can’t be left unnoticed. Feel free to choose your personal motto from the list below.

Bend Reality
Impute
Push for Perfection
Build a Team of A Players
Good Artists Copy, Great Artists Steal
Engage Face-to-Face
Know Both the Big Picture and the Details
Combine the Humanities with the Sciences
Learn from Others
Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish
Think different
Skate to Where the Puck is Going to Be
Have a vision
It’s not about money
When behind, leapfrog
Don’t care about being right. Care about succeeding
Find the most talented people to surround yourself with
Remember You’ll be Dead Soon
Put a ding in the Universe
Don’t wait
Know Yourself
Don’t Hold Back
Live for today
Design is how it works
And one more thing
Be a yardstick of quality
One home run is much better than two doubles
Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower
Why join the navy if you can be a pirate?
Things don’t have to change the world to be important

Can Apple Become a Superhero Company?

Radu Tyrsina — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 18:34:59 +0000

Everybody’s talking about Apple’s huge pile of cash these days, and they are all supposing as to what Apple should do with it. It’s a business world governed by strict laws of profit and money, so there are minimal chances that Apple will take some non-business paths and decide to invest its money in something else than its own success and well-being. Thanks to its millions of fans, Apple has become a giant company that enriches life every day in lots of wonderful ways.

Apple of Today

But Apple is not only cashing massive amounts of revenue, it is also giving back to the community. Growlers will be happy to know that Apple is involved in a lot of charitable and society oriented enterprises and designed to innovate and better the present. Apple doesn’t usually boast about its humanitarian endeavors but in an interview dated back to February, CEO Tim Cook offered a rare glimpse at the charitable donations made by Apple. According to Cook, the company donated more than $50 million to Stanford University Hospitals plus another $50 million to African aid organization RED. As of last year, Cook instituted a matching program and announced that employees will be match with charitable donations up to $10,000.

Caring About Education and Environment

Apple also supports the future of education and the implementation of new, modern and appealing ways of engaging students into their studies. Therefore, back in September 2011, Apple sent more than 9,000 iPads to teachers in 38 states as part of their innovative project “Teach to America”. The purpose of this program is basically to encourage young graduates to teach in the most remote or impoverished school in America. As a consequence, most children living in disadvantaged areas are often left behind and ill-prepared to live in the demanding digital world of today.

Lately, the company has taken a very keen interest in the environment as well. Back in 2010, Apple was building a very impressive data center close nearby Maiden, North Carolina, which turned out to be a “solar array”. Fuel-cell facilities with similar properties were later added to the project. The centers, that are still very much in progress aim to preserve energy efficiency. The solar array is said to cover 100 acres and shall produce 20 megawatts or 42 million kilowatt-hours annually. The project has been nicknamed “Dolphin”.

Apple of Tomorrow

But what would happen if, somehow, Apple would decide to totally change its overview of business plans and plan a total shift in its paradigm of doing things? Say, make a chain of universities that would train future Apple engineers or designers where Jonathan Ive could be the leading voice. You’ve probably guessed by now that this article is going to be a mix of reality and vision, so take it with a bit of salt.

iEducation

It sounds crazy, but by no means impossible. We already have ongoing works for the new campus, so why would it be impossible for them to start building the very first Apple university? Obviously, that would require a lot of investment but if Apple would gradually invest a part of its money, each year, for educational purposes, things would be different. At least, boost the development of educational apps and have talks with the government to ease the deployment of such technologies in education.

I can only imagine how awesome interactive lessons about history and biology would be. Imagine kids with tablets in their hands, dividing cells by tapping or learning about Napoleon’s wars by playing a mini-strategy game… What would stop Apple from creating their own university and establish those standards in their own educational facilities? Obviously, not all the talks with governments will succeed, so why not create an awesome university where you will be allowed to deploy your own strategies? How much could that cost?

I will go even further and say that it would be an awesome idea if those students will have the chance not to work only for Apple, but to choose their own path in life. That wouldn’t be too fair, but isn’t that the purpose of a university? To educate and to teach things? An ideal placement for Apple universities would be to have some in USA, Asia and Europe. Asia is always a nursery of great talents, as we know that the majority of technological products and breakthroughs have their roots there. The same goes for Europe, only on a smaller scale.

iBank

There are only rumors about iBank going full scale, but Apple could really rock the world with such a service. Obviously, it would start a war with banking services, but when you have so much money like Apple does, nothing is impossible to you. I know many of you will consider this piece childish, a waste of time but I think we must dare to imagine the future, s knowledge is the past, as Einstein would say. And because Apple knows how to invest and manage its finances, it is also willing to help customers in this department, as well.

Since its release, the iBank app has become the new standard in Mac money management. The program features a very intuitive interface and a full set of money management feats. Thanks to it you can easily access and edit your transactions, download your online account data, reconcile the statements and track your investments. But can you dare and think beyound that?

A recent study has shown that Apple users would accept to use Apple’s banking services and if we take into consideration that there should be almost 300 million iTunes account, it makes sense, right? You’re probably thinking that banking with Apple would be just too much, but I think that would be a bold move.

Breakthrough Technologies

iPhones, iPads are great, there is no doubt about it. Especially, the iPad, which has started to being used in medicine, architecture, education and many other fields of the human life. That is awesome and what we can do is only praise Apple for bringing up the iPhone and the iPad, movements that have basically set standards for the smartphone and tablet markets. Khan Academy app for the iPad is a good example of how awesome the iPad can be deployed and used in education. But why does Apple stop there?

Why don’t they go even further and help developing technologies that would literally reduce famine, overcome many diseases and contribute to scientific breakthroughs? I am talking about medical gadgets, too. Look at Bill Gates. He only realized what good he’s done to the society only when he managed to save childrens in Africa and Asia. He managed to convince a lot of rich people, including Warren Buffet and Mark Zuckerberg to donate most of their money to charity reasons.

Why can’t Apple be the single company in the world that would actually have a Research & Development sector that would be interested in developing these technologies? Would that be too costly? I think not and I am not a dreamer when I say this. If governments aren’t doing anything about this or too little, maybe it’s time for world’s richest company to jump in.

Venus Project, a New World

Some voices suggest that you’d need $20 billion to make the water clean on Earth by using LifeSaver bottles. Apple could really make a change in the world by doing that. Or, even better, look at the incredible Venus Project, which has been promoted in the third part of the Zeitgeist documentary – Moving Forward and developed by Jacques Fresco. That guy is definitely a genius and he’s made up an extraordinary project that could reshape our society. Why can’t Apple be the Superhero and start developing and deploying those technologies into reality? Are they really profit-oriented? Fresco doesn’t have the money to make Venus Project a reality, but Apple can!

Modern society has access to highly advanced technology and can make available food, clothing, housing and medical care; update our educational system; and develop a limitless supply of renewable, non-contaminating energy. By supplying an efficiently designed economy, everyone can enjoy a very high standard of living with all of the amenities of a high technological society. A resource-based economy would utilize existing resources from the land and sea, physical equipment, industrial plants, etc. to enhance the lives of the total population. In an economy based on resources rather than money, we could easily produce all of the necessities of life and provide a high standard of living for all.

I really suggest you to read this to find out how awesome Venus Project really is. Apple could invest in a small town or a chain of towns and make their economy resource-based. That does sound crazy but imagine what the results could look like? Soon enough, Apple could become the first company in the world with a market capitalization of $1, 000 billion. How much money will they have then? Before reaching that specific moment, Apple can easily enhance its supply chain so that they would have priority ahead of their rivals, so that they could decrease the time spent from the moment when the product is finalized and reaches the customer. But what comes after that? What more does Apple need?

Siri And Artifficial Intelligence

Maybe the biggest achievement in Apple’s recent breakthroughs has been the development of Siri. We’re not saying the technology is perfect and could come out a winner in the Turning test. Not just yet. But the implications behind it are huge. What if Apple could achieve more greatness in the artificial intelligence field? Think about it. The most immediate improvements we could expect to be added to Siri would be the broadening of the databases she works it.

Flight databases, book databases, you name it! How about making Siri the expert on everything Apple, for example? While in the app store you could ask her “What people think of this app” or “How do you install a certain feat”. Could Siri advance even higher up the scale of intelligence? It certainly looks possible. Envision the scenario of Ian M.Banks’s book “The Culture” that describes an utopist world where computers called “Minds” – computers that possess immense artificial intelligence work without requiring any human input at all.

I am eager to find out how will Siri look like in iPhone 5 or the new iPhone, you name it. I am sure that there will not be major breakthroughs, but, in a few years, you will be surprised to see what Siri will do. It could very well bring artificial intelligence in our palms, when and where we need it.

iRobots

Android seems to be the operating system that is loved by other devices besides smartphones and tablets, maybe because it is based on Linux. But, ask yourselves, won’t we get bored with smartphones, tablets, laptops, iMacs and all that? I am sure that there will arrive a moment when we’ll want different technologies to be used in our daily lives.

What will Apple do? Can you imagine a future where in half of US homes there will also be an Apple iRobot? I am not going to suggest that Apple could build cars, because, well … that’s already too much for them. However, I dare to say that I envision a future where Apple would invest in spaceships, in shuttles and so on. Maybe they’ll even open an Apple Store on Moon, who knows?

However, it would be a real pity if Apple will not decide to act different and change its paradigm. Starting a war with Android is not only futile, but non-sense because Android is the easy solution for the majority of smarphone/tablet manufacturers out there. And, as Epson showed it, Android can be used for glasses, as well. Let’s hope that Google’s own glasses will be just as great. Think about robots. Without any doubt, they will be the next big thing, be it in 50, 100 or 200 years. I am absolutely sure that Apple will live to see those times. The incredible rumor frenzy around its products will not cool even in 20 years from this moment.

Next iPhones And iPads

iPhones have become trading goods and many people will soon invest in Apple, thus enhancing the link between the company and the customers. So, what will be the future like for Apple? iPad 10, iPhone 50? Or, they will always have the iPad and the iPhone and in every year they will release another update. That seems to be right, since the 2012 version if the iPad is called the new iPad. If the next iPhone will be called the new iPhone, then chances are that Apple have started to change its way of viewing things, at least with regards to their latest shiny stars.

Nobody can really estimate how much money and profit the next iPhone will bring in, but if we see at how much expectation there is in the air (people are still waiting for the iPhone 5 and didn’t give their money for iPhone 4S), we can be sure that it will be stunning. What will Apple do with that cash?

Apple – The Future Supercompany?

To summarize, Apple has proved to be a complex and resourceful company over the years that has managed to innovate through creativity, products, its business model and their focus on a unique customer experience. Apple has managed to build an enterprise that stimulates bold and enterprising new ideas, thus launching successful and profitable new innovations. Apple’s advantage relies in its diverse ecosystem of employees, customer base, suppliers, partners and stream of global networks, but also the growing culture that has been created around the brand.

What do you think Apple should to become the Superhero Company? Do you think they should invest more in education, medicine and to start fighting poverty or you like them just as they are? Let us know in the comments section and let’s see if we can build a visionary Apple together.

The Smart Home: A Glimpse Into the Future

Radu Tyrsina — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:25:08 +0000

Everyone has imagined at least once in their life what the future will look like. I remember, when I was in the 5th grade, my art teacher gave us an assignment to draw how we imagined the future to be. My painting of the future was full of robots and control panels with lots of buttons and switches. In a curious way, I was right, but also wrong about this. Let me explain: the future will undoubtedly be full of automated devices, some with the possibility to think, with quantum computers as their brain, taking care of the high risk work that humans do now. This part I got right. The other part, the control panels and switches, not so much.

Smart Home – Integrating Technology in Our Daily Lives

When I search on the web to see the latest developments in technology and the path that it takes, I see not buttons or switches, but clean, wireless panels, with touchscreens or holograms. It seems that glass is the material of the future and the keyword for the future is “smart”. We have started to hear these words already, and in the future, we will hear them more and more: smartphone is a very good example of a smart technology that has been implemented so far. Also, smart security, smart TV or smart materials are just emerging. All of these will ultimately come together to build the house of the future: the smart home.

This reminds of a TV series I watched, Eureka. And it’s about a normal guy (a FBI agent) that ends up in a town called Eureka, where all of the world’s leading scientist live. And his house is a smart house that talks to him and can do almost anything: cook, clean itself, give information about anything and much more. That is how I imagine the smart house to be like. What will this so called smart house will do that today’s house cannot? After all, it’s still just a roof supported by 4 walls. Or is it? If implemented, smart materials and smart appliances will revolutionize how we look at our house.

Some of the gadgets than you will find in the smart home are already in development, and in few short years they will be something will see in most households or appliances stores.

The Smart Window

Last year, at CES, Samsung unveiled their new design for the smart window. You might say that it’s not a new technology, and you would be wrong! The smart window is not like the old smart glass, that could modify its opacity, but a completely new design that looks like the Minority Report glass. You can install apps on it, you can browse the web, basically, it’s a big touchscreen, like the one on your smartphone that can connect wireless to the web. It’s transparent, just like a normal window, but at the “touch” of a button, you can close the shutters. A great technology that will be released very soon, and it’s something I would very much like to use and must have in any smart home!

The Smart Fridge

Of all things you would find in the smart house, the last thing you would expect to have a brain is the refrigerator. But, it seems that some people over at Samsung (I know, what’s up with these guys, making everything smart) and LG gave it a lot of thought and they’ve come up with smart refrigerators. These are not your average refrigerators, they have Wi-Fi connectivity, LCD displays, voice control and the possibility to view what groceries you have directly on your smartphone. The days when you pinned your notes on the fridge with magnets are gone, nowadays you write them on your smart fridge’s touchscreen.

The Smart TV

Smart TV’s have been around for a short while. We have seen what they are capable of doing, now having wireless internet support, 3D compatible, app market. They come with microprocessors, capable of thinking and giving you the best quality image possible. The cutting edge technology in TV development is now LED technology. They give manufacturers the possibility to produce incredibly thin screens (just a few millimeters) thick and also bigger screens than ever. Also mobile connectivity is now available, and the future series of smart TV’s will definitely be even more impressive.

Smart Security

What is a smart home if it’s not secure? One of the basic functions of a home is to provide security for its residents. And the smart security does exactly that: home automation technology notifies homeowners of any problems, and because it’s linked to the internet, it can even notify the authorities if someone tries to break in. In the smart home, there is however another type of security that has to be perfected. And that is self security. Because the house is linked to the internet and most of its appliances are also connected, the threat of hacking is greater. So the house has to have a few security features to protect itself and its occupants. Also, an artificial intelligence program would be a nice feature, one that can monitor homeowners health and who can learn their habits and attention them of any risks they might encounter.

All of these connected to your smart network, where you can access everything from the smart window to your heating or home entertainment. Everything will communicate with each other and make your house almost a living being.

These are just a few of the gadgets you will find in the smart home, and more are still in development. There are some who try to build in-home gardens, in witch you can grow your own vegetables, smart materials used to keep your more “green”, to consume less energy. If thing will go in the future at the speed they are advancing today, in 10 years we could live in our own Eureka house.

The Cyber War – Is it Inevitable?

Radu Tyrsina — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 12:15:40 +0000

“Cyberwarfare is the fifth domain of warfare”
- The Economist

“actions by a nation-state to penetrate another nation’s computers or networks for the purposes of causing damage or disruption”

This is how Richard A. Clarke, in his book Cyber War, defines cyber-warfare.

Basic Understanding of Cyber War

This may not be a term you are used to by now, but if you ended up here, you have heard of it. And the meaning of this term is in fact the migration of warfare from the 4 mediums of the past (ground, air, water and space) to a new medium: cyberspace. The concept is not new by any means, this is just a reaction of the evolution of information. Intelligence and counter-intelligence used to collect data written on paper, nowadays, this information is stored on servers or private networks. And so, they have evolved into cyber intelligence.

Cyberwarfare is the method of choice in warfare in the new era, but let’s be honest: do we really believe it could be without victims? Without loss of life? It’s true, maybe soldiers will not be in the line of fire, but the ramifications of cyberwar are much more widespread and they affect much more people. In a sense, we, as a society do not fully understand all the ramifications of cyberwarfare. This new breed of soldiers are armed with laptops rather than AK’s. They now have more power than any army has ever had in the past. The threat of sabotage or espionage via computers and networks has increased dramatically in the last few years.

Cyber Attacks to Replace Military Battles?

We have seen numerous examples of cyber attacks or leaked information and that is just the start of it. As you all know, our society has become more and more dependent on the Internet. In the future, cyber attacks will not just mean a stolen bank account number or a few private photos. Valuable information that is stored on servers across the world are no longer safe, and countries have entire systems linked over the internet, such as transportation, electricity or industry. All of these are vulnerable, and an attack of any of these systems would result in a partial or even total collapse of society.

If this would come to pass, then the risk for society is grater than old fashioned war because of the widespread panic this would cause. The US army calls this type of war iWar (funny, eh?!). After all the attacks on military institutions and private ones, everyone is starting to take notice of the threat and prepare for an all-out cyberwar. The leaders of the pack until now are the Chinese and French, but other countries are quickly rising. Soon, Russia will have a cyber-army ready to strike.

We caught a glimpse of cyberwarfare in 1991, when, in some opinions, cyberwarfare started. In the first Gulf War, Dutch hackers obtained information about US troops and tried to sell them to Iraqis, but they did not believe them. The outcome would have been very different is they would have gotten the information. The US then saw what cyberwarfare could mean, and what a useful tool it could be. Now it has evolved beyond a weapon.

The Real Threat of Modern World: Hackers vs Governments

Another example of this type of cyberwarfare was seen in 2010, when in China, Google, Facebook, Twitter and Skype were blocked for a period, or in Egypt where Twitter was blocked because of the riots and because of the threat that the activists would plan their next attacks on the social network. But all hope is not lost, there are the so-called white-hat hackers. These are the guys fighting in the front lines, those who oppose one country’s control over the Internet and who fight to keep the Internet free and anonymous. In this category, two names stand out over the others: Anonymous, a world wide association of hackers, all anonymous and all working together under the same flag, and LulzSec, the french group that hacked the servers of Sony in 2011.

These two groups are the so called “hactivists” and they operate under the assumption that governments are hacking computers and networks to gain personal information from citizens, and in a way, they are just returning the favor. And is the reply given by governments to these groups? “The road to hell is paved with good intentions”. The Chinese already have the “blue army”, a dedicated task force to keep an watchful eye on the Internet, for any of these Internet pirates.

Online Banking: Making your Money Vulnerable

An inevitable effect of globalization and technological breakthrough is that goods are being faster produced, services are more and more widespread; bottom line, time is the universal currency. In order to save time, we’re using such tools as home banking or mobile banking to avoid the hassle of dealing with bank clerks. While this is great and proves to be useful to our time management, no matter how much security the bank can offer, we should ask ourselves: can we really be safe? There are many ethical hackers out there that fight for freedom and rights but it’s completely foolish to think there aren’t cyber criminals, ready to steal your money and destroy your life.

Either way we look at it, it’s clear that World War 3 will be fought on virtual battleground, but nonetheless, the result will be more devastating that we could ever conceive. Bottom line: Is a cyberwar inevitable? It could be, but looking back on history, I would have to say no.

Top 10 Websites with Good Humor for Geeks

Radu Tyrsina — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 13:34:31 +0000

The web can be a great source of information, where you can find almost anything about anyone. But, another very important part of the web is entertainment. There are a lot of websites that put a smile on our faces every time we access them. It’s true, not many have quality humor, but if you search enough, you will find that real comedy isn’t dead and that there are still people out there that promote good comedy.

Top 10 Funny Websites for Geeks

I think of the web as a mirror of society; and as a mirror of society, pornography and violence is everywhere. It’s true, it’s not that easy to find places where old values still prevail, where you can read an article that is educative, but in an entertaining way. Maybe I’m just pessimistic, but I feel the world, and its mirror, the web is getting smaller and smaller while getting bigger and bigger, and it fills me with joy to see these tiny corners where I can feel safe to click on a link, watch a video and laugh, or read about something and not get bored to death. If you are like me, or if you just want to see where you can find quality humor, you might like this list that I’ve put together.

1. Uncyclopedia

If you ever used Wikipedia, this will definitely put a smile on your face. Uncyclopedia is the perfect opposite of Wikipedia. Its articles are really funny and the site promotes quality humor. For Uncyclopedia nothing is taboo, and everything is permitted. And it’s exactly that quality that makes Uncyclopedia one of the best humor sites on the web. I have made a weekly habit of checking out their witty articles.

2. Cracked

Now, I know everyone has heard of cracked.com, unless you are living in a cave. Cracked is one of the most renowned sites in the world. This site has thousands of interesting articles and the guys that write them do it so with humor, nice jokes here and there. In short, a fun way to learn some really nice and interesting things. A good alternative for Cracked would be ListVerse.

3. DarwinAwards

A collection of some of the funniest stories I’ve ever heard – this is how I would describe Darwin Awards. This website is a really good way to pass the time, but mark my words: it’s addictive. I started reading a few stories and before I knew it, I had spent 2 hours laughing my a$$ off. The website has a basic design, let’s hope they’ll work on that in the future!

4. SomethingAwful

Something Awful is, in fact, the name of a website. I have recently discovered it, and might I say I enjoy it pretty much. The articles are really funny and its content is pretty diverse. The time I spent there was entertaining and I left the site with a smile on my face. I really recommend it if you are in the mood of reading some cool articles. It’s like a mix of after-dark and good quality humor.

5. Sickipedia

Another “pedia” site hits the top! And this time it’s all about humor. Sickipedia is a huge database of jokes. As they say on their website: “building the world’s best collection of sick jokes”, and that is true. The only way to describe this site is this: ROFL! Short jokes that you can remember and tell your friends, not your mom! Ah, and, ignore that small cartoon.

6. NotAlwaysRight

NotAlwaysRight is another humor site where you can find funny stories that happened to people just like you and me. It’s really nice to see real comedy, in a sense, this is just like reality TV, but only in writing. It’s good to know that there is a place where you can read about the funny aspect of life.

7. College Humor

I’ve been a fan of College Humor for a while now. They make really funny videos and on their site and you can find really nice articles. If I were to make a personal list of my favorite video humor sites, College Humor would definitely be in my top 3.

8. Lamebook

As with Wikipedia and its own parodies, Facebook could not have escaped people’s try to make a joke about it. And the joke about Facebook is Lamebook, this site is the total opposite and, of course, in my opinion, much more funnier than Facebook. I wonder, though, if those are genuine jokes or fake.

9. HappyPlace

As the name suggests, HappyPlace is a humor site where you can find quite allot of articles, photos and videos that will surely make you smile so wide, you could eat a banana sideways. I really enjoyed spending time on this site, and now, it’s on my Firefox speed dial.

10. TastefullyOffensive

Humor all around! From the name to the content, Tastefully Offensive has “premium funny” content, updated daily. This site one of the more well known ones, and it’s not hard to imagine why, quality humor is present everywhere. A definite must if you are looking for good comedy.

Writing this article has brought back a lot of memories when I first started to use the internet, oh, what great times. If I may quote a dialog that really touched me, from Pirates of the Caribbean – At World’s End, when Captain Jack Sparrow talks to Captain Barbossa:

“- The world used to be a bigger place.
- World’s still the same. There’s just less in it”

This quote has really touched me, and it seems a fitting ending to this article, seeing that I’ve talked in the beginning of the path the web has taken in the last years. But no matter how hard it gets, remember these tiny “islands” where you can go to have a good time.

7 Books for Every Tech Lover

Radu Tyrsina — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 12:53:27 +0000

From time to time, I take one or two hours per week just go wander in the social media world. I “escape” on Facebook and watch what others are doing, what movies do they watch, what are their description. I do the same thing on Twitter and, more recently, on Google+. Many people have in their profile description “tech lover”, “tech enthusiast” or “tech evangelist”, so I have to wonder – being obsessed about iPhone, iPad, Android, computers and all other things is really what a “tech lover” should be? After all, we’re talking mainly about consumer electronics here, not necessarily about technological breakthroughs.

That’s why I thought about a list of books that every geek should read so that he could proudly call himself a tech lover, not only because he loves gadgets and recent technology but because he believes in science, he believes in the power of technology and its philosophy.

7. The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology, by Ray Kurzweil

Thought provoking book, written by the well-known futuristic author Ray Kurzweil where he speaks about technological singularity as being the blind point in human evolution, the moment when on Earth could appear entities smarter than humans. So, what will happen during that “clash”? Nobody knows.

6. I, Robot, by Isaac Asimov

I remember having read this book when I was 12. At that point, robots seemed like such a far point in human evolution. But, look around, we already have robots that can think and take autonomous decisions. Will they be our friends, will they be our enemies?

5. Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything, by D. Tapscott and A.D. Williams

This book is utterly important for business owners and it highlights the huge effect of the social media on the financial factor of many companies in the world. A basic line from this book is this one “the more your company lets outsiders in, or even turns the company over to the masses, the more new ideas are generated, the more new products are developed, and the more problems are solved.”

4. The Future of the Internet And How to Stop It, by Jonathan Zittrain

“The most compelling book ever written on why a transformative technology”s trajectory threatens to stifle that technology”s greatest promise for society. Zittrain offers convincing road maps for redeeming that promise.” The books speaks about the Internet having a “bad” ending if we’re not going to influence it for the good of society.

A good example that I can think of is how Twitter helped people report from Egyptian riots. The books comprises in 352 pages information from the start of the Internet and the author tries to predict what could the Internet transform into if we will not be able to control it.

3. Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace, by Lawrence Lessig

Seems like a heavy tech book at first, but as you read the first pages you realize the genius of the author and how did he make it readable for everybody. One could view this book as a sci-fi one, as the author suggests that governments could change the “code” of the Internet and make it controllable. It’s another book about the Internet, but, this author tries to prove that the Internet could be the key for us to restart the democratic process that seems lost. A wonderful book that combines Internet – the juice of technology with a futuristic view of the political aspect of the World.

2. The Control Revolution: Technological and Economic Origins of the Information Society, by James Beniger

It’s all about information, James Beniger suggests. From the very first wheel that humans made until 3D processors, it’s all about information. Beniger argues that information has been used by society to control production, that’s what made possible the big transition from the feudal society into the industrialized one, when people, using information shaped into machines and factories, could control production, thus feeding the needs of the entire society. It’s a must-read in your library.

1. The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells

My personal no.1 is this awesome written book by the genius of sci-fi, Herbert Wells. Why The Time Machine? Because traveling in time has been the biggest dream for humanity, a possibility that we were talking about since childhood. It will remain a wonderfully written book, ready to make you dream and get lost in webs of desire. It will make you wanna go back and see how big the dinos were and see how will humanity look like one hundred years from now.

© Raju PP for Technically Personal!, 2011. This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact us, so we can take legal action immediately. If you are on Twitter you can follow me @rajupp! | Permalink |

Geocaching: a Geeky Game you Would Love to Try!

Radu Tyrsina — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 11:59:56 +0000

The spring of the year 2000 saw a huge leap forward in GPS capabilities. Mapping and navigation became the new trend. You just needed a GPS capable device and you were on your way. The uses of the newly updated technology were almost countless and some people saw more opportunities than the majority. One such example is Geocaching.

Some of you might remember going on treasure hunts, where you would look for different items hidden in a given area. Well, Geocaching follows the same general guidelines, but expands the search area to the planet! According to geocaching.com, the game is

“a real-world outdoor treasure hunting game. Players try to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, using GPS-enabled devices and then share their experiences online”.

Using GPS mapping and the ever expanding means of internet communication, the Geocaching team got the whole world into playing the biggest treasure hunt ever. Now, you have the ability to both go looking for items hidden by others, or you can stash you own treasures and wait for someone else to find it. All you need to do is go online, create a Geocaching account on the dedicated website and you’re on your way.

If you have a GPS device, you can download treasures’ locations and go hunting. When you find it, the rules say you can take it with you but you have to replace whatever you found with something of equal or greater value. Of course, you also get the bragging rights!

The treasures can be anything from small items to, let’s say, a barrel. While the data on the item include the approximate size, they don’t specify what exactly you are looking for. It’s for the hider to know and you (and everyone else) to find out. For the moment, there are more than 1.4 million items hidden worldwide and more than 5 million treasure seekers out there.

Wondering how many are in your area? Well, go online and find out. And if you decide to go out and start searching, the best of luck to you!

10 Ways Being a Geek Makes You Sexier

Raju PP — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 18:30:17 +0000

Yes, you read that headline right. Being a geek isn’t just for geeks anymore. And thousands of school-uniform-wearing Asian girls agree. Being a geek these days is cool, something to be proud of. And, yes, it is sexy.

In honor of Embrace Your Geekiness Day (July 13th), I think it’s about time for all of us geeks to take pride in our esoteric knowledge of defunct sci-fi television series and our deep understanding of medieval weaponry. Geeks, it is time that you knew why you were sexy.

1. Brains

Of course the first item had to be brains. First of all, chicks dig smart guys. If you’re a geek, you can help people with their computers, dominate a game of trivial pursuit, and wow your date with your in-depth knowledge of natural history on a trip to the museum. And contrary to popular belief, guys dig smart girls too. Who wants to have a conversation with a woman who only talks about tanning and eyeliner? Give me some depth. Brains are sexy, period.

2. Cosplay

Even if you don’t look like Chris Evans or Angelia Jolie, a little cosplay can go a long way. Dressing up like Captain America or Lara Croft makes you 10 times hotter every time.

3. Money

If you can take care of yourself financially, that’s always sexier than an model who still lives with their parents. And we all know that with brains comes a good job and some extra spending cash. Geeks run the world—look at Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, or Mark Zuckerberg. If that doesn’t make you sexy, I don’t know what does.

4. Creativity

I’ll bet you never knew that all the time you spent building imaginary worlds and creating armor for your WOW avatar would come to use in the real world, but it does. Girls like guys who are creative and can think outside the box, and guys like a girl who isn’t just the same-old, same-old. If you have brains and creativity, the world is your oyster.

5. You can fix stuff

“I just don’t know what’s wrong with my iPod,” the cute co-ed/guy sitting next to you on the bus exclaims. Looks like it’s time for someone to fly to the rescue with their innate geeky sense of technology and engineering. Yes, that’s you.

6. Knowledge of space

For some reason—and don’t ask me why—knowing about space stuff, like constellations, stars, planets, and other geek-manna is really impressive. After watching all that Battlestar, Star Trek, and Firefly, you should have picked up something. Don’t hold back. Let your inner geek shine. And when you go on a moonless walk around the lake, break out your trove of space knowledge. Your date will have no option but to be impressed.

7. Interesting

Geeks are downright more interesting than other people. Geeks think more, are more creative, and have unique views of the world. No one wants to date a bore. And your geekiness ensures that your dates will never be boring.

8. Imagination

Many of the above points speak to the fact that geeks have amazing imaginations, and that imagination can be translated to the real world, where you can come up with interesting dates, and out-of-the-box thinking that will impress the opposite sex. Imagination is sexier than rock-hard abs any day.

9. Removable glasses

You know that scene in the movies where the librarian takes off her glasses, shakes her hair out, and all of a sudden she’s totally hot? That’s you. And it works for guys too (well maybe not the shaking hair part). But don’t take it from me. Ask Margaret Cho:

10. Devoted

You’ve watched the entire series of Battlestar Galactica at least 12 times. You slept on the hard sidewalk outside the Apple store to get your hands on the first iPad. You’ve traveled 14 hours in a Ford Fiesta with 6 other people to get to Comic Con San Diego 4 years in a row. No one can question your devotion. And that may be the sexist thing about you. Your boyfriend or girlfriend knows that you never jump into anything halfway. You’re in it for the long haul. Your devotion is sexy, you geek.

Geeks of the world, now is the time to throw that pocket protector in the trash, step outside your darkened basement, pull the glasses from your face (shake your hair out) and embrace your sexiness.

This was a guest post by Greg Buckskin who is an outdoorsman and tech enthusiast and writes for Comcast.USDirect.