I'm outside on a Sunday afternoon writing this column, so ostensibly I should be enjoying the cloudless blue sky and soft breeze as it whispers throug...
Since Jeopardy!, Watson has become 240 percent faster and 75 percent smaller. Watson can now run on a single server, which is the size of four stacked pizza boxes, onsite or through the cloud. And that's why organizations can start bringing Watson into their operations as an assistant, to help sift through the information they're collecting, learn from that data and how it's been applied in the past, and provide specific suggestions quickly and efficiently.
People say they'd like to influence or actively participate in their local government. In fact, according to a Civic Plus Digital Citizen Engagement survey, nearly half of those polled want to provide input in their municipal government. But turning this interest into action is one of the biggest roadblocks to implementing local community ideas. How can local municipalities tap into the increasing power of social and mobile technologies to create a community of active influencers?
When I was growing up in Massachusetts, my Dad loved to work on cars. Every time he headed out to the driveway, I was right there with him. One weekend, when I was 10 or so, he told me we were off to fix a transmission. "I can't do that," I said. He replied without a pause, "People do it every day. You can certainly do it once." That straightforward advice -- and the fact that we did fix the transmission -- stuck with me.
This is the era of the city. It is also the era of the Millennial. With a growing population of bright, diverse, wired and connected young people who really care about where they live, the two are ideal for each other, but our cities must keep up in attracting the prized demographic.
Whether you live in Northern Virginia like me, New York, Nairobi, or Nice, road congestion and the ensuing traffic jams aren't just inconvenient; they can impede economic growth and impact the environment. Imagine how much more productive people are when they're not stuck in their cars or on the bus several hours per day. The good news is that help is on the way.
If you're a light TV viewer who just wants to watch the major networks, Aereo might be right for you.
NextLesson is a web app where teachers and parents can get access to pre-designed lesson plans or create their own. It wasn't created by a 20-year-old to jump on the next big trend. It was created by a couple of dads using the ideas and techniques of high tech to solve a real problem in education.
Countries vary dramatically in their records of environmental responsibility. Clearly there are economic and political reasons for these stark differences, but is it also possible that human psychology plays a role in creating collective pro-environmental mindsets?
How many mouths will the world be feeding by 2050? It is an estimated 9.2 billion, up from 7 billion today. To keep pace with this growing population, global food production will need to increase by 70 percent. That means getting a lot smarter about how we raise crops.
While mobile computing is becoming the darling of marketers, its explosive growth rate is rather daunting, with more customers shopping via mobile devices every day. Forrester Research anticipates mobile commerce will exceed $31 billion by 2016. And by 2020 there will be 10 billion-plus devices in the pockets and palms of consumers.