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Harvest ideas. Edit applications. Ideas need a dynamic, fluid, generous environment to sustain life. Applications, on the other hand, benefit from critical rigor. Produce a high ratio of ideas to applications.
From Bruce Mau’s “An Incomplete Manifesto’s for Growth”
It turns out that the internet has a kind of depth. Multiple networks run though the same wires, even though they are owned and operated by independent organizations - perhaps a university and a telephone carrier, say, or a telephone carrier contracted to a university. The networks carry networks. One company might own the actual fiber-optic cables, while another operates the light signals pulsing over that fiber, and a third owns (or more likely rents) the bandwidth encoded in that light. China Telecom, for example, operates a robust North America network - not as a result of driving bull-dozers across the continent, but by leasing strands of existing fiber, or even just wavelengths of light within a shared fiber.
Blum in “Tubes..”
... the internet is many things, in many places. But one thing it most certainly is, nearly everywhere, is, in fact, a series of tubes ... Everything you do online travels through a tube. Inside those tubes (by in large) are glass fibers. Inside those fibers is light. Encoded in that light is, increasingly, us.
Andrew Blum in “Tubes: A Journey to the Center of the Internet”
In basest terms, the Internet is made of pulses of light. Those pulses might seem miraculous, but they're not magic. They are produced by powerful lasers contained in steel boxes housed in (predominantly) unmarked buildings.
Andrew Blum in “Tubes: A Journey to the Center of the Internet”
#CartoDB Map - Wind Turbines by Manufacturer in Texas
You can turn layers on and off in this map:
What more than 20 million Facebook users are talking about ahead of the midterms.
Get your quant on right here....
Do More With Less - Thoughts from a Successful Toy Entrepreneur
“Products that make sense™”
Adam Hocherman founded American Innovative in 2003 while on his way to Cornell to get his MBA. The company has gone on to flourish, making a variety of inventive time-telling devices largely aimed at children.
What's that you say? Kids can't "tell time"? Well, American Innovative has a solution to that, namely its best-selling Teach Me Time! device which serves as a time-teaching tool and night light all in one. The company also has a number of other adorable time gadgets for kids that parents will also appreciate - largely because the devices encourage children to sleep in, telling them when it's “Ok to Wake” and giving overworked parents a few extra moments of precious sleep.
In addition to its children's products, American Innovative also has a number of products aimed at adults, including its Chef's Quad Timer Series which allows chefs to keep track of cooking times for four different items simultaneously and its Indoor/Outdoor Kitchen & BBQ Dual-Timer for timing cooking in the kitchen.
Do More With Less
Hocherman's mantra for aspiring entrepreneurs is “Do more with less.”
“There are two ways to increase the profitability of a business,” he says. “Add revenue or reduce cost. One tends to have more control over the latter than the former, in my experience. You would be amazed at what can be accomplished on a shoe-string budget if you’re clever and creative.”
The Product, The Channel, and First Cost
Hocherman also had some advice for folks looking to hang their own shingle:
“Many new entrepreneurs think there is only one aspect to bringing a product to market – a great product. 'Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door.'” “Not so,” he says. “There are three. The product (the idea), the channel (who is going to sell it and at what retail cost) and the first cost (how much it costs you to build it and get it to your point of shipment departure). You need all three to work in unison in order for a product company to work.”
* * *
Initially trained as an mechanical and aerospace engineer (also at Cornell), Hocherman worked at Accenture Consulting's Internet Center of Excellence before working at the intersection of technology, geography, and engineering as a VP at Syncline, Inc. Today, Hocherman's company is focused on solving problems through careful focus on the needs of its users and through employing beautiful industrial designs married to intuitive interfaces.
You can learn more about Hocherman and American Innovative at: http://www.americaninnovative.com/
JoyLabz Founder & CEO Jay Silver Introduces the MakeyMakey at the 112th Annual International Toy Fair held at the Jacob K. Javits Center in NY.
Meet MiP: a robot that is part segway, part-radio controlled fun, and part-open source hackable teaching tool for enthusiasts and students.WowWee, the same company that brought you Robosapien, displayed MiP at the 2014 Toy Fair held in February 2014 at the Jacob Javits Center.
American International Toy Fair 2014
As many of you probably don't realize - as this is only my second post - I have a deep interest in technology and education. Full disclosure, I have a BA in English and a Master's in Urban and Regional Planning; I am thus particularly well-suited to discuss the merits of various technologically-aided, project-based instruction for transferring science knowledge from one cranium to another. Ha.
In any case, I'm frequently an opinionated voice opining about STEM education and I wanted to share some interesting tidbits I gleaned today while at the American International Toy Fair. I went looking for robots - lots of them. I wanted to see robots that you could program, did chores, and asked you how your day was going. Well.... I found the 'bots and some other cool toys, gadgets and gizmos. Here's a run down of some of the most interesting:
Robotics
Modular Robotics out of Boulder is making CUBELETS; these are blocks that snap together via integrated magnets to create energized Frankenstein-esque mashup robots. The blocks can transfer power from one block to another without wires and without any additional programming. According to the company website, they can "drive around on a tabletop, respond to light, sound, and temperature, and have surprisingly lifelike behavior." Yeah, they were pretty cool.
The company has also released MOSS, which is like an advanced version of CUBELETS in that is allows for greater variety of connections and actions amongst the disparate pieces of robot matter. The company describes the product as a "kinematic robot construction system." It wanders, slithers and spins in bizarro life-like ways.
WowWee, the same company that brought you Robosapien, displayed its new MIP robot, which is part-segway, part-rc car, part-open source hackable teaching tool for enthusiasts and students. A joy to play with and only ~$119.
ez robot shared its various programmable robot models ideal for budding enthusiasts to serious roboticists.
Artec Educational had too many cool products to count; their robots were lego-oid-like structures that seemed to have their own personalities.
Girls and Engineering
You might've seen the GoldieBlox commercial during the Super Bowl halftime show earlier this year. GoldieBlox founder Debbie Sterling was onsite at the show surrounded by her creations.
Apps
Tangible Play displayed funky new games that bridge the divide between app and traditional board game, creating an exciting new hybrid gaming experience.
digipuppets shared their finger-puppet app combo.
DIY Electronics
Kickstarter success story MakeyMakey allows participants to create a key pad from any number of objects, including bananas, trees - almost anything. Those keys can be connected with Garage Band or a bunch of other programs for seemingly endless opportunities for DIY projects.
Nature / Crunchy / Sustainable
HSP Nature Toys brought along displays that allow students to watch earth worms make compost and root vegetables grow.
E&M Labs out of Mountain View had a bunch of nifty DIY kits; some allowed you to build a mini trebuchette, a snap-together version of the midieval catapult you probably saw during one of the Lord of the Rings films or a History Channel special.
They were also selling Skallops, tiny wooden joints that allowed for creation of sculptures out of playing cards.
Tegu - short for Tegucigalpa, a city in Honduras - makes sustainably-harvested beautiful magnetic wooden blocks made by Hondurans. The company's mission is to bring "lasting change to the third poorest country in the Western Hemisphere," and does so by providing living wage jobs, planting trees, and sending children to school.
PlanToys presented a wide range of sustainable toys.
Inaugural Post!