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I'm a social capitalist in Central Europe looking for good ideas and great teams. This blog is a sample of what I've been reading around the Internet. Enjoy!

Archive

Feb
7th
Sun
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Scientists have built a clock which is 100,000 times more precise than the existing international standard. The quantum-logic clock, which detects the energy state of a single aluminum ion, keeps time to within a second every 3.7 billion years. The new timekeeper could one day improve GPS or detect the slowing of time predicted by Einstein’s theory of general relativity. “It could it be a real contender for the next frequency standard, or next timekeeper,” said physicist Chin-wen (James) Chou of the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Boulder, lead author of a study to appear in a forthcoming Physical Review Letters. (via Ultra-Precise Quantum-Logic Clock Puts Old Atomic Clock to Shame | Wired Science | Wired.com
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Scientists have built a clock which is 100,000 times more precise than the existing international standard. The quantum-logic clock, which detects the energy state of a single aluminum ion, keeps time to within a second every 3.7 billion years. The new timekeeper could one day improve GPS or detect the slowing of time predicted by Einstein’s theory of general relativity. “It could it be a real contender for the next frequency standard, or next timekeeper,” said physicist Chin-wen (James) Chou of the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Boulder, lead author of a study to appear in a forthcoming Physical Review Letters. (via Ultra-Precise Quantum-Logic Clock Puts Old Atomic Clock to Shame | Wired Science | Wired.com

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Jan
31st
Sun
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Apple represents the “auteur model of innovation,” observes John Kao, a consultant to corporations and governments on innovation. In the auteur model, he said, there is a tight connection between the personality of the project leader and what is created. Movies created by powerful directors, he says, are clear examples, from Alfred Hitchcock’s “Vertigo” to James Cameron’s “Avatar.” At Apple, there is a similar link between the ultimate design-team leader, Mr. Jobs, and the products. From computers to smartphones, Apple products are known for being stylish, powerful and pleasing to use. They are edited products that cut through complexity, by consciously leaving things out — not cramming every feature that came into an engineer’s head, an affliction known as “featuritis” that burdens so many technology products. “A defining quality of Apple has been design restraint,” says Paul Saffo, a technology forecaster and consultant in Silicon Valley. (via Steve Jobs and the Economics of Elitism - NYTimes.com
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Apple represents the “auteur model of innovation,” observes John Kao, a consultant to corporations and governments on innovation. In the auteur model, he said, there is a tight connection between the personality of the project leader and what is created. Movies created by powerful directors, he says, are clear examples, from Alfred Hitchcock’s “Vertigo” to James Cameron’s “Avatar.” At Apple, there is a similar link between the ultimate design-team leader, Mr. Jobs, and the products. From computers to smartphones, Apple products are known for being stylish, powerful and pleasing to use. They are edited products that cut through complexity, by consciously leaving things out — not cramming every feature that came into an engineer’s head, an affliction known as “featuritis” that burdens so many technology products. “A defining quality of Apple has been design restraint,” says Paul Saffo, a technology forecaster and consultant in Silicon Valley. (via Steve Jobs and the Economics of Elitism - NYTimes.com

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Jan
29th
Fri
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Here’s what Apple needs to do: stop trying to convince me that an iPad is better than a Netbook. That’s not the point. I have plenty of things in my life that can bring me a calendar, music, photos, and touch-screen painting. I don’t need more of that (no matter how pretty you make it). Don’t try to put the iPad between a laptop and a smart phone—that positioning doesn’t make any sense to anyone, and no one needs that.
Start pitching this thing as the actual replacement for paper. Get some serious content deals with periodicals and papers, and maybe even offer a combined subscription service that lets you choose 8 or 10 papers and magazines for a flat fee. Get the bookstore up to Amazon stock levels, put an e-ink/LCD hybrid display in the next version, and get serious about what this really is: a multimedia reader. (Also, get your product line and pricing in order and stop trying to act like a 3G chip really costs an extra $130.) See you in three to five years!
Jan
28th
Thu
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We knew today’s Apple tablet announcement was a big deal. We didn’t know, however, that it was big enough to bring the Internet to a near-standstill. (via Apple’s iPad Event Broke the Internets - PCWorld
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We knew today’s Apple tablet announcement was a big deal. We didn’t know, however, that it was big enough to bring the Internet to a near-standstill. (via Apple’s iPad Event Broke the Internets - PCWorld

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Jan
24th
Sun
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Google made headlines when it went public with the fact that Chinese hackers had penetrated some of its services, such as Gmail, in a politically motivated attempt at intelligence gathering. The news here isn’t that Chinese hackers engage in these activities or that their attempts are technically sophisticated — we knew that already — it’s that the U.S. government inadvertently aided the hackers. In order to comply with government search warrants on user data, Google created a backdoor access system into Gmail accounts. This feature is what the Chinese hackers exploited to gain access. (via U.S. enables Chinese hacking of Google - CNN.com
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Google made headlines when it went public with the fact that Chinese hackers had penetrated some of its services, such as Gmail, in a politically motivated attempt at intelligence gathering. The news here isn’t that Chinese hackers engage in these activities or that their attempts are technically sophisticated — we knew that already — it’s that the U.S. government inadvertently aided the hackers. In order to comply with government search warrants on user data, Google created a backdoor access system into Gmail accounts. This feature is what the Chinese hackers exploited to gain access. (via U.S. enables Chinese hacking of Google - CNN.com

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Jan
20th
Wed
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[I]t looks like this massive dirigible from Lockheed Martin will indeed be taking flight sooner rather than later, and could see action in Afghanistan by mid-2011. Dubbed the LEMV (or Long Endurance Multi-intelligence Vehicle), the airship is apparently “optionally manned,” and can stay aloft at 20,000 feet for up to 21 days at a time, while also carrying a payload of up to 2,500 pounds. (via US looking to deploy long-endurance hybrid airship over Afghanistan — Engadget

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The targeted cyberattacks apparently originating in China that hit Google and more than 30 other companies late last year are now targeting some U.S. defense contractors, according to security vendor F-Secure.
Jan
19th
Tue
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Mexico’s Cave of Crystals stunned geologists when it was first discovered in 2000. The underground chamber contains some of the largest natural crystals ever found - some of the selenite structures have grown to more than 10m long. Professor Iain Stewart got a rare glimpse of the subterranean spectacle while filming for the new BBC series How the Earth Made Us.
Jan
16th
Sat
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The German Federal Office for Security in Information Technology has officially advised people to stop using Internet Explorer, all versions, until Microsoft releases a new patch for the latest gaping security hole. If you were not aware, in Internet Explorer there is a current security problem that allows a webpage to maliciously inject code onto the machine running the browser. This bug was used by “Operation Aurora,” which hacked Google and other companies in recent days. (via  German government issues official warning. Do NOT use Internet Explorer until it is fixed.
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The German Federal Office for Security in Information Technology has officially advised people to stop using Internet Explorer, all versions, until Microsoft releases a new patch for the latest gaping security hole. If you were not aware, in Internet Explorer there is a current security problem that allows a webpage to maliciously inject code onto the machine running the browser. This bug was used by “Operation Aurora,” which hacked Google and other companies in recent days. (via German government issues official warning. Do NOT use Internet Explorer until it is fixed.

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Jan
15th
Fri
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Operation Aurora looks to be a coordinated attack on many high profile companies targeting their intellectual property. Like an army of mules withdrawing funds from an ATM, this malware enabled the attackers to quietly suck the crown jewels out of many companies while people were off enjoying their December holidays. Without question this attack was perpetrated during a period of time that would minimize detection.