Track Santa in Real-Time

There are some days left until christmas eve, but this new emerging technology promises great stuff. In cooperation with google the organization noradsanta.org developed a technology to track the worldwide ride of Santa Claus.
Therefor the organization uses four hightech-systems:
Tracking Santa starts with the NORAD radar system called the North Warning System. This powerful radar system consists of 47 installations strung across the northern border of North America. On December 24th, NORAD monitors the radar systems continuously for indications that Santa Claus has left the North Pole.
The moment that radar indicates Santa has lifted off, we use our second detection system. Satellites positioned in geo-synchronous orbit at 22,300 miles from the Earth’s surface are equipped with infrared sensors, which enable them to detect heat. Amazingly, Rudolph’s bright red nose gives off an infrared signature, which allows our satellites to detect Rudolph and Santa.
The third tracking system is the Santa Cam network. We began using it in 1998, which is the year we put our Santa Tracking program on the internet. Santa Cams are ultra-cool, high-tech, high-speed digital cameras that are pre-positioned at many locations around the world. NORAD only uses these cameras once a year. The cameras capture images and videos of Santa and his reindeer as they make their journey around the world.
The fourth system is made up of fighter jets. Canadian NORAD fighter pilots flying the CF-18 intercept and welcome Santa to North America. In the United States, American NORAD fighter pilots in either the F-15 or the F-16 get the thrill of flying alongside Santa and his famous reindeer: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen and, of course, Rudolph.


But tracking santa is only one side of the coin, the other side is providing those information for 1000 of people worldwide. In cooperation with google internetusers can see in realtime, were santa is right now.
google allows a little preview on their videoplatfrom youtube:


We have to wait 22 more days until this emerging technology can be really proofed, but when it works it will be a revolution and bring the world really forward...

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This is the last, not 100% serious blog entry in the category "Emerging Technology", which showed current developments in media technology.
I personaly liked the blogging and it's very interesting to see, how many things are happening and how fast things change. I would recommend this task also for the next master students, cause it can also inspire you for own projects.

Web 2.0 vs. classic media

Some weeks ago I showed the homemade spacecraft of a family in the U.S.


Homemade Spacecraft from Luke Geissbuhler on Vimeo.

Now when just reading the German News Magazin spiegel.de they also wrote an article about this little video/project.
It's not only published at their website but also in the printed magazin "Dein Spiegel", which is especially made for children.

The time gap between my entry and the publishing now shows the advantages of web2.0. But it also makes me a little bit proud to write about such little things that early, which then became famous...

Boxee.tv

Since years and years expert forecast that TV and Internet emerge. With google.tv and apple.tv also the big players offer services, all big video consoles like playstation or wii offer internet access...
But the user still prefers to have both devices on its own.
Now another service is available and tries to finally bring TV and internet together.
boxee.tv is a nice service now also started in Germany.

On the one hand you can buy the boxee box with remote control to run boxee. And on the other hand you can just download the app and install it on a existing computer which is connected to your TV. An app for the iPhone allows you to use your mobile as remote control.
I think especially those two ways of using the system are a really interesting step.
But anyway, i think it will still need some time until every TV is connected to the internet...

Spoon: Run desktop software in the cloud

Some month ago apple introduced its new macbookair. And every othter company dealing with computer has its own netbook.
The idea: These small versions of laptops have only one purpose: Instead installing software on their own machine the internet browser is the access to software. Why should the computer use its power to calculate and run programs when the internet provides all kind of software without installing on a local machine, accessible from everywhere with every computer.
Cloudcomputing is this idea called, that webbased services are installed on servers instead of your own computer. googledocs is maybe the famoust one.
This trend is some years old, but with spoon comes now a software, which allows you even to run desktop software in the cloud.
You just have to register and can start a lot of wellknown software like skype or secondlife without installing it anymore.
It's a nice service which shows a new way of marketing. Instead of buying a software, maybe even on the good old dvd you more and more take it as service and pay a monthly fee. Especially cloud computing software offers this pricing models. But that's a big field which is worth an own blog entry...

Street View in Germany II

Maybe it's a little bit boring, but what I read today is that strange, that I have to write about it.
Like the Newspaper "der Westen" (the west) published today, "fans" of google throw eggs against walls of pixelated houses and put letters in the postbox with the creative text: "google's cool".

Especially in cities where many flats are in one house the concern of one tenant is enough to pixelate the house. That his housemates may see their house online doesn't count.
One tenant was obvoisly really angry about that fact and wrote a letter, which get's quite famous.

The letter says:
Dear tentants,
as at least one of the tentants living in that house is concerned, that his privacy could be destroyed by google street view I will to protect your privacy not longer accept packages for others. I fight for your privacy!

But all discussion and punishment doesn't lead to any success, cause google pixelated the raw data, so there is no way to unpixelate the houses.
Next blog entry will defentely be about something else then google street view... Hopefully...

Streetview in Germany

One of my favourite topics is the launch of google street view in Germany. As I mentioned already, on the one hand, house owners who feel disturbed in their privacy can apply, that their house will be pixelated by google. But, on the other hand, every private person can take pictures of streets and houses and publish them in the internet. And as many online picturedatabases are linked with google maps (e.g. panoramio), you can also see were the picture is made.
So some very clever people combined both and suddenly, you can see pixeled houses again, like this example in Berlin shows. First, you see only the pixelated house, but in the top you can click on a small picture and then you got the original view:

House first pixelated, then visible by a picture of Panoramio.

Comment: Midwhile the picture is removed. But when clicking on "photos" in the right corner you can see another perspective of the house.

Happy birthday, Windows!

Today, 25 years ago, Microsoft published its first operating system called Windows. To that time no one expected, that it would become the most succesful operating system ever.
Even though apple publishes one new innovation product after the other, Windows is still the most selling operating system world wide, and in my opinion since Windows 7 there is no urgent need to change to Mac...


The system to that time reformed they way of using computers. This is a quote from the original press release

"Microsoft Windows extends the features of the DOS operating system, yet is compatible with most existing applications that run under DOS. Windows lets users integrate the tasks they perform with their computer by providing the ability to work with several programs at the same time and easily switch between them without having to quit and restart individual applications. In addition, it provides a rich foundation for a new generation of applications.
“Windows provides unprecedented power to users today and a foundation for hardware and software advancements of the next few years,” said Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft. “It is unique software designed for the serious PC user, who places high value on the productivity that a personal computer can bring.”

And this little video shows how it performed to that time: 

iPhone Table

What looks like an iPhone, it's just bigger? The iPad? Nope, it's the iphonetable!
A German company is working at concept of an XXL iPhone, which supports multitouch. If it's working as handy as the original iPhone, it could be a great benefit for group meetings, smart homes and hanging at a wall for TV and other solutions. Might be interesting to see, if the iphone-table can enter the market and how much it will cost.  The following video shows the prototype of the iphone table, which makes me want more of it...

20 years ago: WorldWideWeb invented

This week will be a view back to the roots of internet and modern computers.
Last friday 20 years ago Tim Berners-Lee proposed the web.
His project proposal includes the main idea of a the modern web, including hyperlinks.
HyperText is a way to link and access information of various kinds as a web of nodes in which the user can browse at will. It provides a single user-interface to large classes of information (reports, notes, data-bases, computer documentation and on-line help).
At this stage the web was far away from providing pictures or even video files.
But it's amazing what this little project has become today...

Dying of... Newspaper

New developments in technology cause very often the dying of an old technology. The car replaced the carriage, the phone replaced the telegraf.
It's hard to see old technology dying. Mostly, the old technology survives in a niche, carriages are still run in Vienna for tourists, the old vinyl still has its lovers.
When talking about emerging technology many people so the newspaper as the next dying media, killed by the faster, multimedia newspages in the web.
Newspaper Extinction Timeline
We'll see if they are write, but with technology like the iPad and the eReaders maybe noone will really miss the old, big format newspaper...

World wide web? - nope...

Today I want to write again about one of my favourit topics, my life as a German in Ireland.
Living in a world with internet makes many things easier. I get up, read my German Newspaper as pdf.
I have access to my friends through social networks like facebook and for 5€ per month skype allows me to call every landline in Germany as long as I want.
In Germany I didn't watched much TV, but from time to time I enjoy it. In the German news are often reviews about new TV-Shows or Event which I then could watch online, cause midwhile almost every TV-station offers there programm about one week after it was first sent in TV. So the live-factor, being in front of the TV when the show runs is less and less important.
But in Ireland I can't watch the German TV even with internet. After an advertising (which surprisingly works) I see the following black screen:

Sorry, this video is not available in your country

It's a pity that I can't watch German TV in times of a global world...

Online Shop integration in youtube

The mashup of moving the own homepage into a existing plattform seems to be a new trend. After the examples I gave of fhm-online.de (moved to facebook) and the agency Kamchatka moving to twitter now there is another example:
The label frenchconnection goes new ways with their online shop. It's totally launched and integrated at youtube.
The idea of product videos is not new, but to fokus the whole shop on this videos and have to videos not on their own homepage, but on youtube is a big step.



The whole shop can be seen here:
http://www.youtube.com/user/frenchconnection

Google Street View II

Google Streetview has finally started in Germany. But not in all places, only a small demoversion of some famous tourist attractions and, yes, in Oberstaufen!
Never heard of Oberstaufen? 95% of the Germans think the same, but the small village in Bavaria, close to the Alps landed a big PR succes.
Like the little village of Asterix in France, the little Oberstaufen is different from the rest of Germany.
Most of the German communities were critical about google streetview, but the politics and the inhabitants of Oberstaufen saw their chance to become famous and lead a lot of tourists in their small village.
And they succeed. No newspaper today without the name Oberstaufen in it, every TV station shows pictures of it, when reporting about the start of street view.
Like this video from the ARD, the biggest TV station in Germany shows, the people in Oberstaufen are proud and happy to be the first village in Germany with street view.
http://www.tagesschau.de/multimedia/video/ondemand100_id-video800474.html

This story shows, how emerging technology and open minded people create best advertisement for free... Concratulations!
And here is how it looks:

Größere Kartenansicht

Sleep longer with the iPhone4

The negative news about the iPhone 4 take no end.
First there was the bad quality of reception, then the problem of the real glass display, which broke very often. A friend of mine working at apple Germany told that 80% of the new generation of iPhone and iPod touch come back with broken glass.
At the weekend, when the clock's all over Europe turned one hour back, iPhone 4 users which relied on the alarm had another nice surprise the next day. Instead of going one hour back the iPhone clock of the alarm stayed constant, which means that iPhone users could sleep one hour later, but maybe miss their morning meeting. The reactions of the users where mixed, some thanked apple for one hour more sleep, others were really pissed off...

reactions on twitter to the newest iphone4 bug

A possible solution to solve all this problems shows the following video:

Dying of phone

Kids who grew already up with computers, so called digital natives, are often not used to do phonecalls. The communication with friends ist often done by chat, and calling a stranger is a real event.
Now another app for the iphone again reduces the number of phonecalls.
Taxi-Caller is an iPhone app which uses GPS to search a taxi for you. Just run the app and press the "Call Taxi" button, the rest is done by the software.
The user doesn't need to know the number of the taxi company and doesn't know, how the street is called where he is right now.
And for the taxi-drivers it's a very efficient system, cause the nearest taxi is called, so the rides without passangers can dramatically be reduced.

Micropayment II

Last time I bloggt about micropayments I mentioned paypal only in a subordinate clause.
But yesterday paypal announced that they will soon offer a special service for micropayments. 

The advantage of paypal's service is, that they already have the infrastructure to make successful payments for both, buyer and seller. Many web users (included me) have already a proofed account, paypal has access to my bank data and I can easily load money on my account.
The success of the new model will depend from the charges every paying will cost. For payments less then 12$ there is not longer the fee of 0.35€ + 1,9%, but only 0,04€ + 5%.
Practically this means, if you pay 1€ for a virtual good you not longer pay 0,369€ (0,35 + 0,019) but only 0,09 € (0,04 + 0,05).
That makes micro payments a lot more attractive then it was before, if you pay only 9% instead of 36% charge.

Build car-pools with GPS

As the weather turns into rain me and my bike will have a hard time... As I don't have a car it's time to think about rain-alternatives. Advantage of the bike compared to the bus is, that it's riding when I want, in heavy traffic like at the mornings on the way to CIT it's faster, punctually and it's for free.
But what about longer tracks, 10, 20, 50km? Bus and Train seem to be a good alternative, but they are expensive. That's why in Germany there is a community called "Drive-with-me" (www.mitfahrzentrale.de), a domain which organizes car pools to get cheap from city A to B. But get a ride needs a lot of organization, people come late, the car is already full, you have to decide 3days earlier where to go, etc...

Some students from Darmstadt developed now the plattform flinc.org, which uses smartphones and GPS data to find the perfect ride. The system is much more flexible and can reduce the number of cars.

As I used car pools in Germany I think it's really a good alternative for both, driver and passenger. If enough people are registered you can decide very shortterm, if you want to pick up people or if you prefer to ride alone. And as passenger you can plan shortterm-trips without planing 3 days before.

Homemade Spacecraft

Today I will deal with a very interesting kind of emerging technology. Or better a mashup of old technlogies combined to a new one. This entry won't have 100words, just watch the video and enjoy:


Homemade Spacecraft from Luke Geissbuhler on Vimeo.

Microsoft presents Cloud Computing Office for Companies

This week Microsoft presents a new office which allows companies to work in a cloud. That is another step towards mobile offices because you have access to your software and all your data from all over the world. 

Cloud computing is one of the trends in Gartner's chart that's on the very end of it's "peak of inflated expectations".

The Office 365 combines the normal office with SharePoint Online, Exchange Online and Lync Online with the cloud.

I personally become more and more convinced by cloud computing cause I don't need to bring my laptop to university anymore. With the use of dropbox I have access to my data from every computer with internet connection, so I don't care if I'm working at my PC at home, in the library or at the MACs in our classroom... And if my laptop crashes, I still have a save backup of all my data.

Gartner Hype Cycle 2010

Gartner just released its annual hype cycle, a hypothesis of the coming trends.

Gartner's chart is based on the assumption that new technologies first get into a hype. Then the fall down, because the expectations were to high and the customers are disappointed. After that stage they reach a realistic level. 

Believing his thesis the top topics in the next months are speech-to-speech translation. Internet-TV is still with google-TV at its very beginning. 

Very interesting for me is that virtual worlds, first a big hype are reached the bottom of the expectations, so it seems to get up again.

Let's see how it will develop until next year...