innovative businesses are being built around application programming interfaces (APIS) --which provide pre-built cloud resources for the underlying forms and functions for new businesses and concepts.
Ross Mason, founder and vice president of Mulesoft, outlined in a recent webcast how the rise of the API economy can be considered to be second digital revolution.
Both the United states and United kingdom governments have stated that they will be making data and transactions available via open APIS.
and data that may have been locked away for years, Mason says. To a large extent, because they are so accessible
Producing APIS will not be the exclusive domain of software companies or large enterprises. The key thing about the API economy is you can't just consume APIS.
It's not just about consuming data, connecting to Amazon or Salesforce. You publish your own APIS as well.
#Why open source may win the electronic health record market Electronic Health Records (EHRS) are the trend of the day.
The idea is that the data they collect can drive change, change can drive efficiency,
and was not a real EHR through a group it funded called the Certification Commission for Health Information technology (CCHIT).
first developed in the 1980s and released in this decade as open source, was falling. The Bush administration starved Vista of development funds, preferring a system of contracts and contractors who used HIMSS-approved gear.
At the peak of the fight the VA even lost control of its own lab software system to Cerner
and its open source approach. Suddenly, it seems, Vista has the advantage. This was proven for me today, through an interview with Paul Hensler (above), CEO of the Kern Medical center in Bakersfield, California.
Plus millions of dollars for the software. Enter Medsphere a commercial supporter of Vista software.
Their Openvista is open source. Kern could download it, call it free, and then sign a professional services contract with Medsphere for support.
Suddenly, a two-year contracting process could be squeezed into six months. And with the first deadlines for getting stimulus money coming in 2011,
thanks to open source. It was an incredibly short decision time frame for a county. A lot of our doctors did their training at the VA. We knew we could download it
and other issues the VA software doesn't support. I think we came across Medsphere in late April.
We decided to talk to other users in September, looking for a fatal flaw, ansd at the same time started working on a contract.
This is the way open source is supposed to work. The software is free, but you need help,
and the support contract also gives you control of the final result. You also get help from all the other users of the same software.
But this is an advantage I had not been aware of. Since you don't buy open source, you can sign a professional services contract with an open source consultant
and clear through several bureaucratic processes at a stroke. If the Obama Administration has done nothing else
it seems, it has transformed the market for EHR software. Open source, which had been left for dead a year ago,
is suddenly in the lead d
#Why people need robot journalism in the Google era Kristian Hammond quit artificial intelligence 10 years ago,
but that is exactly when he created an intelligent machine. Hammond is a professor at the Intelligent information Laboratory at Northwestern University,
who has built a computer that can create movie reviews by curating text online found on blogs and on Twitter.
The machine can also produce original sports stories from data. And what's surprising is that the sports stories aren't actually that bad.
Local news stations could find this kind of news generation useful, but Hammond's personal goal is to create content for every little league player in the country so the team member's family can read about their performance.
Our lab works on personalized information systems. They take the form of whatever the task is
We are looking at computer generated content. We got to a point where we were generating from existing text online,
we could generate from existing data. The reality there is a ton of data, but it's numerical data. its not that compelling to most people,
but a story can be. We can do it automatically. We are generating content where it didn't exist before
because we can get to the data and generate these stories. We think we can generate into any sport where there is numerical data.
We are generating college level softball stories. If you go to the Bigtennetwork. com to see the Stats Monkey stories of women's softball.
Our byline is Narrative Science. We get the scores. The system looks at the score, figures out
Anywhere there is data and there is interest. Our hope is to be able to do something for the 2010 census
what people are striving for in artificial intelligence. We were able to create experiences that are compelling and every once in a while, a little amusing.
Artificial intelligence has rested on the foundation of vary deep representations of events and the control of inferences.
it enriches their websites without taking people away from more traditional tasks. People are hungry for genuine content.
If we can get hold of data, we can generate a story in a quarter of a second.
As more data comes online we will be there to generate the stories. Here is a movie review.
Whatever document you needed it was most likely that Jason had it in a folder on his hard drive.
and launched, Docstoc. com. Docstoc has quickly become the web s largest destination for sharing
As a frequent user, I love this site. In fact when setting up my own LLC
I followed the post on Jason s blog entitled 10 Incredibly Awesome Docs to help you Start a Company.
So with some success under his belt and new innovations in the world of Docstoc,
and is likely one of the fastest growing sites on the web. Over 11mm unique visitors a month use the site
and we recently launched our Docstore, the premier marketplace to buy and sell documents online. How can we participate?
In addition we work with partners like Legalzoom who sell their content through our site. What has taught Docstoc you about consumers and their needs?
On the publishing side, there are so many potential contributors that need a platform to share their documents both on our site
and to embed on their own websites and blogs. On the other hand, we get hundreds of thousands of downloads each month,
so obviously there is a very compelling need to find valuable professional documents fast and easy.
The huge advantage of launching businesses on the web is that you can get instant feedback
and spend way too much money before they get their web product online. As a rule of thumb, don t spend more than 3-6 months building your web product before you put some version of it online,
even if it s just a beta of a private demo. Let your users guide where the product development needs to come from.
What s next for Docstoc? Docstoc is building out the largest repository in the world of professional documents
Click Here To visit Jason's blog, Click Here To Check out The 10 Totally Awesome Docs to Start a Company, Click Her r
Flickr user zigbphotography, CC 2. 0 Related: The cost of new oil supply Saudi arabia taps China for nuclea a
Inventors and designers bring their ideas to the site, but they aren't actually brought to life until there is enough interest,
Information technology is at the heart of successful share models, and sensors are a critical part of that mix
Technically more of microfinance organization than a sharing model, this site supports the creation of artistic projects.
A site where people can rent designer dresses, gowns and clothing for events, rather than buy them outright.
says Mandarin is the most popular first-learned language in the world and the second most popular language on the Internet.
And it s the second most popular language used on the Internet. So it s no surprise that parents will want their children to learn This is Mandarin harder for children to learn than other languages?
Relative to 10 years ago, Americans have changed completely their outlook about learning a language. We ve seen a shift about the age that parents want their children to start learning.
#Why wireless charging is bigger than you think The idea of powering up mobile gadgets with no cords is tantalizing,
The idea of wireless charging is tantalizing--a vision of electronic devices that stay powered up without wall sockets,
and gadget bags minus the eternal spill of bulky cords and cables. The reality, however, is that wireless charging options today are still relatively expensive
and support few of the real-world devices that consumers actually own. Still, prices are falling,
Market research firm IHS predicts that almost 100 million devices that support wireless charging could be on the market by 2015
Some mobile phone manufacturers are even distinguishing certain high-end models with wireless charging options. A few examples include the Lumia smartphone from Nokia, the Nexus 4 from LG Electronics,
and the Droid DNA from Verizon Wireless and HTC. And in the future, wireless charging technology won't be limited just to powering more mobile devices.
It could have applications for large-scale appliances and could be embedded in surfaces ranging from car dashboards to household floors to kitchen countertops.
The Wireless Power Consortium (WPC) is the largest technology alliance in the wireless charging industry dedicated to advancing that vision
although there are several other efforts brewing. Established in late 2008 WPC has nearly 150 member companies including major mobile phone manufacturers and semiconductor companies.
The consortium introduced the Qi inductive power standard in late 2010, and it is working to drive adoption-along with a healthy market for wireless power.
more than 30 companies have shipped mobile phones using its embedded wireless charging capabilities. Those phones are designed to power up on compatible charging mats and cradles, alarm clocks and music players,
and the inside surfaces of some new car models. Toyota announced in December that the 2013 Toyota Avalon Limited will be the first car to offer wireless charging with a Qi-powered console included under the dashboard.
Bas Fransen, chief marketing officer and head of business development for Convenientpower, a wireless power technology company,
But an upcoming revision in the second quarter of 2013 will see Qi extended to support wireless charging up to a level of 15 watts, enough power to charge consumer tablets.
The ability to charge laptop computers wirelessly isn't yet supported, but plans are on the near-term roadmap.
wireless charging will become an evermore common device feature for mobile gadgets, like Bluetooth, or embedded cameras.
As the commercialization of early applications for mobile gadgets accelerates, some engineers are focused on the longer-term potential for wireless power.
Inductive charging, which is used the technology in the Qi standard, works with any material except for metal,
A marble countertop, for example, could be rigged to charge a wireless coffeemaker and a blender along with a variety of phones, tablets and computers as needed.
As wireless charging develops, the technology might even help reduce production costs for large appliances like kitchen refrigerators,
but also Google, AT&T and others. It's still early to consider this a platform war,
and its open platform theoretically offers the easiest path for companies planning new product development that supports wireless charging options.
and the promise of wireless charging for the future e
#Why young Americans still aren't driving Since 2005, driving in the United states has been steadily declining.
Doug Short takes a look at the latest data (PDF), on vehicle miles traveled, from the U s. Department of transportation.
#Wi-fi network breaks speed record A new Wi-fi network is making even the fastest commercial Wi-fi networks seem sluggish by comparison.
that's like downloading an HD movie in less than one second or 2400 times faster than a DSL internet connection.
In the future, such radio links will be able to close gaps in providing broadband internet by supplementing the network in rural areas and places
Get more details on this incredible Wi-fi network. Via Discovery y
#Wikileaks: U s. fears unsafe nuclear reactors in China Diplomatic cables from Beijing say old designs lack passive cooling and pose a big risk.
when the tsunami knocked out backup diesel generators and reactors overheated.""As the CPR-1000 increases market share, China is assuring that rather than building a fleet of state-of-the-art reactors,
These sensors connect to backend servers that process the data collected, and the information is displayed as requested by the customer.
or her field using a mobile phone, personal digital assistant or PC. Information that is collected includes temperature, humidity, and soil nutrients.
The solution was developed by Bulut Ersavas, a former electronics engineer with IBM and Sun who got the idea for a water-monitoring system
while he was earning his MBA. Val Babajov, president of Climateminder, says his company's goal is to help agricultural concerns produce the same yield with less water.
But the equally colossal pieces of Styrofoam that protected the computer in shipping more than two decades ago are gone long,
but in the future you may see it on your TV or in your car. I called Bayer Monday at his office in Green Island, NY.
which could even be your computer or TV. Steelcase one of the largest office furniture makers in the world--they ve been really happy with Ecocradle,
We re launching Ecocradle in the computer market. There s one big client that will be using it (we will be releasing the name in a couple weeks.
We see using it for all sorts of plastic material like the hard plastic around your TV.
#Google maps goes underground"in Japan's radioactive zone"This is not a place you'd want to hang around for too long Google is producing underground street maps of Japan's nuclear exclusion zone.
The radiation levels near the Fukushima site are spiking to record levels, but that hasn't stopped Google's Streetview from entering one area of the forbidden'zone.
The images are from 17 cities within Japan's Iwate and Miyagi prefectures, which were damaged heavily by the 2011 tsunami,
Google has catalogued also the interiors of over 70 flood-damaged buildings in the region. The panoramic images are an update to ones taken shortly after the disaster.
Google says that it has a higher social purpose. Our digital archiving project aims not only to make a record of the disaster's wreckage,
and Miyagi Prefectures for the first time since we#published the first panoramas back in 2011, Google's group product manager,
Kei Kawai, wrote on the team's#blog. By releasing this new imagery on Google maps
we hope people in Japan and from all around the world can virtually explore what these towns currently look like
Google is not the first nongovernmental entity to enter the exclusion zone. Organizations including#Animal Friends Niigata
Google maps, David Worthington) Related on Smartplanet: What the NRC really knew about Fukushima Fukushima ocean radiation could pose sleeper threat Nuclear meltdowns nearly made northern Japan uninhabitable do need we to worry about radiation in our milk?
#Google unveils deforestation monitor to combat climate change The philanthropic arm of Google, Google. org, introduced on Thursday a deforestation monitor that could be a useful tool to combat climate change.
Using a new platform, its"high-performance satellite imagery-processing engine, "the company can crunch the massive amounts of data stored on Google's servers to instantly produce,
using satellite images, detailed maps showing changes in forests over time. The platform, unveiled at the International Climate change Conference in Copenhagen, could be used as a tool for nations to comply with the United nations-proposed REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest degradation in Developing Countries) program
Based largely on data from the UK's Stern Review on the Economics of Climate change report,
"Google. org wrote in a blog post.""Emissions from tropical deforestation are comparable to the emissions of all of the European union,
but Google. org plans to make it available within the year, perhaps as a"not-for-profit service"for only scientists, governments,
#Huge spike in bus riders because of Wi-fi? Everyone is taking the curbside bus . Or at least 30%more of us are.
indicating that the core business model is financially sustainable. This is a significant rise. Why? Some say that it new Wi-fi enabled busses that is luring people to leave cars behind
so that they can surf the Web while traveling. Others say it just that with cheaper busses
and more intercity routes people are taking more trips, period. The interesting thing we need to note as Felix Salmon in Reuters notes here,
Bolt Bus and Limoliner have jumped into the market offering cheap routes, Wi-fi, higher safety standards,
have nothing to do with Wi-fi at all. From the article: In other words, the Depaul data is consistent with total bus ridership actually staying constant, with the recognized curbside buses simply taking ridership share from unrecognized Chinatown operators.
In reality, I suspect that bus ridership is growing. Just not nearly as fast as the Depaul paper would have you believe.
Even this article in Bloomberg that angled the Wi-fi theory ended the article with this quote from the director of Megabus:
As Salmon notes in his piece the travel industry has to improve current Wi-fi access in hotels, planes,
Since tablet adoption is about to experience exponential accelerated growth, with tablets eclipsing lap top sales by 2015.
And tablets function with Wi-fi. From Salmon post: So far, no one really cracked the problem of the mobile web wee still in a world where connecting to the internet
when on the move is far too difficult, and needs to be configured (and often paid for) on a device-by-device basis
. Which means that for the time being it a bit of a stretch to say...that the mobile web is actually changing the way we travel from city to city. via Reuters t
#Leaked EU documents rank biofuel emissions higher than crude oil European union politics website Euractive has gotten its hands on official EU data reporting that many biofuel crops release more carbon dioxide than crude oil,
and approximate the emissions of the much-maligned oil mined from tar sands. The numbers were intended for release in the spring when the EU presents new proposals on biofuels,
The leaked data present higher carbon costs for biofuels because, for the first time, the analysts incorporated the effects of indirect land use change (ILUC).
Meanwhile, crude oil's efficiency value is 87. 5g CO2/mj. Here are the data (g CO2/mj) from the EU documents,
incorporating ILUC, for various biofuel crops, thanks to Euractive: Palm oil-105g Soybean-103g Rapeseed-95g Sunflower-86g Palm oil with methane capture-83g Wheat (process fuel not specified)- 64g Wheat (as process fuel natural gas used in CHP)- 47g
and It'll Heal Your Wounds in 15 Seconds Flat Bloomberg News reports on an incredible new invention that astounding people across the world and across the web.
The Youtube description for Bloomberg video states: A small lab in Brooklyn is working on a gel that can stop bleeding in 20 seconds.
Collective-Evolution notes that the solar panels embedded in the concrete bike path are not as efficient as panels installed on homes
David lynch is bringing Twin peaks back to television. The award winning director caused Twitter mayhem last week
when he sent out a cryptic tweet about some amn good coffee. It been a little
The two countriesleaders are reported to have talked via telephone on Tuesday. This is first time a presidential level discussion has happened since the Cuban revolution.
Held captive for five years, Gross was convicted for dissident after being caught smuggling cell phones to Cuba small Jewish population.
The airline did say in a Facebook post that it lost contact with flight MH17 over Ukraine airspace.//
js. src=//connect. facebook. net/en us/all. js#xfbml=1; fjs. parentnode. insertbefore (js fjs;(
document'script''facebook-jssdk';/'//> A reporter in East Ukraine spotted the wreckage and an official with the Russian Emergency Ministry told Gawker that bodies from flight#MH17 were scattered over a 10 mile radius.#BREAKING:
Reuters correspondent on the scene in Eastern Ukraine sees burning wreckage of air plane bodies on groundreuters World(@Reutersworld) July 17 2014photos of the wreckage have started also showing up on Twitter.
User Matevznovak has been posting photos of the debris to his account. These pictures have not been verified as authentic.
Flight#MH-17#Torez#Donetsk#Ukraine by Nadezhda Chernetskaya pic. twitter. com/z4bydeovcp legionar(@Matevznovak) July 17 2014flight#MH-17#Torez#Donetsk#Ukraine.
Don t know what part of the plane is this. pic. twitter. com/kniwpcyfsglegionar(@Matevznovak) July 17 2014flight#MH-17#Torez#Donetsk#Ukraine More photos pic. twitter. com/Xjaqytnidv legionar
(@Matevznovak) July 17 2014flight#MH-17#Torez#Donetsk#Ukraine by Nadezhda Chernetskaya pic. twitter. com/nrokr3svtulegionar(@Matevznovak) July 17 2014flight#MH-17#Torez
#Donetsk#Ukraine by Nadezhda Chernetskaya pic. twitter. com/2o0sgvnjbe legionar(@Matevznovak) July 17 2014a video was posted also to Youtube that reportedly shows smoke from the wreckage rising over the hill.
You can watch the launch live here on Space. com, courtesy of NASA TV and Spacex, beginning at 3: 30 a m. EST (0830 GMT.
Cell phones are need already to link to GPS and Wi-fi services on top of 4g and other cellular networks.
And in the future theyl likely also have to contend millimeter-wave bands for 5g services. All those need antennas of different lengths and shapes to accommodate the sometimes widely spread wavelength bands.
I was drawn soon to continuous glucose monitors (CGMS. These report blood glucose levels every 5 minutes, thanks to a small radio transmitter attached to a fine sensor wire that runs under the skin (the wire is replaced weekly, the transmitter every six months.
Finger checks can give you the information that a CGM can, such as the rate of change of glucose levels.
This data could be vital, not only to Evan immediate care but also his long-term health. We purchased a Dexcom G4 CGM in February 2013
We could merge the data from the G4 with reams of nutrition data we had been collecting
but I knew that the Dexcom G4 receiver could furnish glucose data via its USB port.
Dexcom own Windows software was pulling data in this way, and fortunately, Dexcom supplied an API (application programming interface) library as part of its software installation.
It took about 3 hours to code A c#program that polled the receiver and uploaded the data to a Google spreadsheet.
We sent Evan to day care with a small laptop equipped with the receiver. While he was in his classroom,
we could see his blood glucose via either a simple website or an ios app I threw together.
It was life changing, as it allowed Evan some freedom from the typical type 1 diabetes regimen at day care.
Still, when Evan went out for recess or long walks, putting him out of range of the laptop receiver,
we were blind again. Thus began my work on a truly ambulatory solution, based on a smartphone rather than a laptop.
My family primarily uses ios devices, but power limitations and closed frameworks made hooking up the receiver to an iphone far more difficult than to an Android phone.
I got a Motorola Droid Razr M phone and once I had the basic USB enumeration downo my phone could eethe receiver
when it was plugged in started decoding the G4 communication protocol. Using the same C# program as before,
I ran commands and captured the USB traffic as it flowed between my computer and the receiver.
With this data, I wrote an Android app to extract glucose data and upload it to our Google spreadsheet via the cellular network.
In my excitement, I tweeted my discovery. What happened next was incredible. Another iabetes dad, Lane Desborough, contacted me.
He wanted to build a similar system for his son. I shared my C# program with him
and continued to refine the Android app over the summer, in preparation for Evan return to school.
Lane created Nightscout, a Web app with predictive alerts. These alerts are based on glucose levels uploaded to a database built using the open-source Mongodb platform.
Lane transformed my system into a tool that anyone could use. While Dexcom has released subsequently Share, a proprietary remote-monitoring system, it works only with ios devices.
By having reverse engineered the G4 communication protocol and created an open online database system, we can access the data on a wider range of equipment.
For example, I picked up a Pebble smart watch the first day they were available at retailers
and within a few hours, I had written software that lets me see Evan glucose level at a glance.
Lane and I (along with Ross Naylor) continued to collaborate, and in early 2014, we made the C# uploader, Android app, Pebble watch,
and Nightscout code open source. Subsequently, better software engineers than I have improved the code and made it easier to use;
a Facebook group for Nightscout, set up by Jason Adams, now has nearly 12,000 members, and our code made the semifinal round for the 2014 Hackaday Prize.
While remote monitoring may seem invasive, it is in fact liberating. Evan can play more, learn more,
and simply do more, because his life is disrupted far less by the demands of diabetes.
We can mitigate most hyper -and hypoglycemic events without interrupting his day. I am proud to have taken back some of
what we lost that day in August 2012 and blessed to know that my little boy diabetes has helped so many others.
This article originally appeared in print as IY Diabetes Remote Monitoring.
Overtext Web Module V3.0 Alpha
Copyright Semantic-Knowledge, 1994-2011