Monthly Archives: August 2013

Activision R&D Real-time 3D Character Demo

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Activision R&D Real-time 3D Character Demo

“This animated character is being rendered in real-time on current video card hardware, using standard bone animation. The rendering techniques, as well as the animation pipeline are being presented at GDC 2013, ‘Next Generation Character Rendering’ on March 27.  The original high resolution data was acquired from Light Stage Facial Scanning and Performance Capture by USC Institute for Creative Technologies, then converted to a 70 bones rig, while preserving the high frequency detail in diffuse, normal and displacement composite maps. It is being rendered in a DirectX11 environment, using advanced techniques to faithfully represent the character’s skin and eyes.”

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Radio wave-treated water could change agriculture as we know it

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“A groundbreaking new Irish technology which could be the greatest breakthrough in agriculture since the plough is set to change the face of modern farming forever. The technology – radio wave energised water – massively increases the output of vegetables and fruits by up to 30 per cent. Not only are the plants much bigger but they are largely disease-resistant, meaning huge savings in expensive fertilisers and harmful pesticides. Extensively tested in Ireland and several other countries, the inexpensive water treatment technology is now being rolled out across the world. The technology makes GM obsolete and converts excess CO2 into edible plant mass.”

http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/wave-goodbye-to-global-warming-gm-and-pesticides-29525621.html

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Ambient Backscatter Energy Harvester

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Ambient Backscatter Energy Harvester

“Ambient Backscatter transforms existing wireless signals into both a source of power and a communication medium. It enables two battery-free devices to communicate by backscattering existing wireless signals. Backscatter communication is orders of magnitude more power-efficient than traditional radio communication. Further, since it leverages the ambient RF signals that are already around us, it does not require a dedicated power infrastructure as in RFID.”

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Energy harvester that creates power from ambient vibrations comes to market

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“MicroGen’s energy harvester, dubbed Bolt, provides power like a battery — but uses a very different means to get there. Housing a piezoelectric microelectromechanical system (MEMS) inside the casing pictured above, the unit creates energy from vibrations in the surrounding environment. Ambient vibrations cause a flap on the device (pictured below) to move back and forth, which in turn creates a current that dumps energy in to either a capacitor or a thin rechargeable battery next to the flap. The Bolt requires a source vibrating at around 120Hz in order to charge, and an LED on the outer casing will blink to let you know it’s full.”

http://www.extremetech.com/computing/155102-energy-harvester-that-creates-power-from-ambient-vibrations-finally-comes-to-market

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Smart dust: A complete computer that’s smaller than a grain of sand

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“Nobody’s ever written a Star Trek episode about the world’s smallest microchip, only about the world’s smallest computer. Now, a team from the University of Michigan has built not just a very small microchip, but a whole functioning computer, and it’s less than a cubic millimeter in size. Called the Michigan Micro Mote, or M3, this tiny computer features processing, data storage, and wireless communication. Researcher Pabral Dutta thinks it will be the ‘next revolution in computing.’  The technology works with a very low-powered and low-range wireless standard to broadcast its latest state every few minutes.  To power the M3, researchers fitted it with a tiny solar cell.”

http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/155771-smart-dust-a-complete-computer-thats-smaller-than-a-grain-of-sand

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What Will Software Eat Next?

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“Just look at the industries that software-driven companies have taken over in last decade: In publishing, Amazon and its Kindle destroyed Borders and flipped the industry’s financials on their heads; In movies and music, Netflix and Apple’s iTunes displaced Blockbuster and Best Buy, not to mention the local record shop and the CD and DVD themselves;  In photography, Shutterfly and Snapfish supplanted Kodak, only to be handed their own walking papers by Facebook and Instagram. Software stands at the threshold of even more explosive growth as it will continue to reshape entire industries. The million-dollar question is: What’s next? There are several industries that are on high alert.”

http://www.caseyresearch.com/cdd/what-will-software-eat-next

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Kenya to Introduce Exchange-Traded Funds, Market Regulator Says

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“The Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSEASI), Africa’s third-best performing bourse this year, will begin offering exchange-traded funds, the Capital Markets Authority said. The funds will be offered ‘in an effort to increase the scope of capital market products available in Kenya,’ the Nairobi-based regulator said in an e-mailed statement today. The NSE All-Share Index rallied 23 percent this year. Ghana, Africa’s best performer, gained 47 percent. The Kenyan funds will target individual investors seeking an affordable way to buy into a diverse number of assets, Paul Muthaura, acting chief executive officer of the regulator, said in the statement.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-08/kenya-to-introduce-exchange-traded-funds-market-regulator-says.html

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TEDxMogadishu 2013 Theme: Rediscover

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TEDxMogadishu 2013 Theme: Rediscover

“2012 saw the rebirth of Mogadishu and the first ever TEDx event in Somalia. In 2013, we will reflect on the past, present and future, exploring the ideas, innovations and traditions that once built and will again rebuild this country. Peace has continued to take hold, children are playing in the streets, and the beaches are filled with weekend swimmers. A parliament has been formed, constitution approved, and a new cabinet of ministers is leading Somalia back onto the international stage. Every day that goes by is a historic day, and TEDxMogadishu will highlight the incredible voices that have fought against all odds to make this possible. It is time to rediscover Somalia.”

http://tedxmogadishu.com/

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Mogadishu: East Africa’s newest business destination?

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“Lino Carcoforo, an Italian-Somali entrepreneur behind Innovation for Africa, an early stage investment fund focused on mobile phone based technology startups in east Africa, marvels at the enterprising spirit of the Somali people. The Somali populated Eastleigh area in Nairobi has become the commercial hub of Kenya’s capital. Somali entrepreneurs are credited for the transformation of the residential area to a mini-city nicknamed Mogadishu ndogo (Swahili for ‘small Mogadishu’).  He points out that while other countries have been successful in mobile money transfer, Somalia is a step ahead with mobile payments for purchases of services and goods.”

http://www.howwemadeitinafrica.com/mogadishu-east-africas-newest-business-destination/17661/

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Rebuilding Mogadishu with Local Knowledge

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“The Freeman has covered Somalia many times, with an eye to how society there functions in the absence of a state. Ben Powell has done a great job covering the internal effectiveness of Somali customary law and how living standards seem to have improved since the state collapsed.  So where is Somalia today? Two years ago this month, the militant group al Shabaab abandoned Mogadishu. Since then the ‘world’s most dangerous city’ has seen a serious economic boom. Since the unrest has died down, community groups have started cleaning and rebuilding the city. Even so, Mogadishu is hardly a kind of place you want to pack up and move to. Yet. Sipus may help change that.”

http://www.fee.org/the_freeman/detail/rebuilding-mogadishu-with-local-knowledge

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