Apple, Google, Facebook and Samsung all have plans for new, striking and audacious, headquarters or additions.
the same firm behind Google and Samsung's projects, is to create an alternative environment where employees can work
Meanwhile, Google is building a 1. 1-million-square-foot headquarters called Bay View near its current complex in Mountain view,
Google is pulling out all the stops in this new facility and promises to break new ground in environmental sustainability, reported Bloomberg.
Rob Spiro, the former product lead for Google+and cofounder of social search engine Aardvark (Google acquired it) founded the company.
There a lot of demand for things made of wood--watches, iphone covers. It like a return to nature, says Sergio Ora, the Italian agent for Shwood.
Mick Peel Via: Adventure Journal
Super bug bacteria in meat and poultry, study saysif you grab chicken or some other meat from the grocery store,
Scientists hope they won't be the only one. via TGEN News Photo: procsilas Related on Smartplanet:
an iphone? Derek Peterson sure hopes that may someday be the case. The 36-year-old former investment banks is CEO of Growop,
nutrient injectors and even an app that allows owners to control all these processes remotely from their iphone.
Via: NPR, The Salt Image: imallergic, Flickr
Teenagers from Swaziland snag $50, 000 prize for hydroponic systemhow many teenagers have $50, 000 just laying around?
the two students won the money in Scientific American's first ever Science in Action contest at the Google Science Fair for developing a hydroponics system to help local farmers.
And now the two have a chance to travel to Google's headquarters in California, and be a part of a year long mentorship program.
Dollens has developed a biomimetic architecture iphone app called Biodesign which explores in a comic-book like fashion the engineering and modeling of the buildings of the future.
Dollens app explores the structural properties of trees and leaves, such as how they take stress from a disaster like an earthquake
Book publishers creating these highly asset-intense apps are really fish out of water. It not what they do.
That why they ll probably be buying more of these types of startups that are doing animated apps, and video.
So they go to the app company, the app company creates a great app, then the publisher says okay we ll establish the brand here so let also put out the book,
and the book may today get more exposure than the app in many cases. But that going away.
So why would anyone need a book publisher in five or ten years from now?
The Google has 12.9 million links to e-cigarettes, and the first of those links that's negative,
The iphone 5 could have changed everythingprotestors dressed up to represent Foxconn workers outside an Apple retail outlet in Hong Hong on May 7th, 2011..
Is the release of a new iphone the perfect time to mobilize around fair labor practices?
The sheer number of iphone upgraders and users is astonishing. On the day the iphone 5 is being released for pre-order,
articles about Apple abound over the virtual waves. Few mention questionable labor practices. Imagine if today was a day of action?
If the people on hold at Verizon and AT&T were waiting to condemn support of unfair labor?
Boxes of the iphone 6 (or even more iconically, the iphone as Apple drops the numbering system),
Via: Kansas city Star) Photo: stock. xchng user Marijnvb Related: Cree: We've cut the cost of LED streetlights in half LEDS turn towering sow's ear into silk purse in Paris
Today, many of these records are stored in databases called health information exchanges or HIES, which are linked together online--making a treasure trove of data accessible to myriad hospital workers, insurance companies and government employees.
Yet the number of patient records contained in electronic databases is fueled ballooning by billions of federal stimulus dollars.
Technology companies large and small, from IT industry heavyweights such as Google, IBM, General electric and Dell to startups, operate in the market.
Leading this sector were Japan's Sharp and Korea's LG and Samsung. Agrochemicals and Agriculture Agrochemicals led the industry in growth,
LG, Matsushita and Bosch & Siemens. Food, Tobacco and Fermentation Fermentation is the hot ticket in this sector,
Big in organics are Seiko Epson, Hoffman Laroche and the University of California. Semiconductors The industry's year-over-year drop in patents is due to double-digit decreases in three sub-sectors:
If everyone reading this article right now remembers to unplug their phone chargers from the wall
fortified with'tripod'units for additional stability. It also recreates a'five-story'traditional pagoda (a design in
They also plan to introduce pitting-resistant cherries in the near future. via Co. Exist Photos:
valuing the company as more than Google and Microsoft combined. Intense trading on Thursday February 9 came after an Allthingsd report that the ipad 3 is likely to be introduced in March.
the ubiquitous iphone and ipad. Given that Apple's design achievements have distinguished its products and services in the marketplace over the years,
via Boing Boing
Three designs that will transform the National Mallthe National Mall in Washington, D c.:it's the ultimate public space.
Microsoft just introduced its own version, the Smartglass, on June 4th, showing a market shift towards more innovative media experiences.
Via Science Image: Erling Jirle, Department of biology, Lund University, Sweden
U s. used less water in 2005 than in 1975, despite 30%more populationthe United states is using less water now than during the peak years of 1975 and 1980,
Chang'r/Flickr Via Grist
Urban beekeeping keeps cities healthywe need bees for the future of our cities and urban living,
what would become an early Apple computer mouse, they cobbled together a roller ball (from a bottle of Ban deodorant) and a butter dish.
the developers created a smartphone app that lets citizens select desired locations on an online map.
P-Planter developer Brent Bucknum wrote to tell me the urinal does, in fact, meet ADA dimension requirements and that he is working with community groups in SF
a $10 billion real estate developer that we can thank for erecting strip malls across the country, but that more recently has been focused on a plethora of mixed-use redevelopments in rusty urban corridors.
Stefano Boeri Architetti Via:
Video: Clothes made from cow's milkwhen milk goes bad, the standard protocol is simply to throw it out.
and a camera and can be controlled remotely or with an app on a tablet computer. It will be one of many new unmanned vehicles on display this week at the convention of the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International in Washington
via i09) Images: Living root bridges Related stories: Video: China unveils world s longest sea bridge,
which integrates weather forecasts, via a computer or a free Apple iphone application. Cyber-Rain claims that the system investment might be covered in certain places by water utility rebate programs.
and even through an iphone app. Users can create efficient watering schedules that are customized to their landscape through an intuitive interface that is easy to use.
Via Reuters. Image: weed by tobym via Flickr
Weighing what trash is worth at Mexico city'Bartering Market'MEXICO CITY oe Sunday morning brings swarms of people to Chapultepec Park to walk, run, bike or just meander among the trees and the vendors of snacks
The list of companies that have collaborated with d. school on projects include Visa, Motorola, Google and Pepsico. And recruiters at companies such as Google,
Why Groupon is now selling onionsgroupon, the online deals site, is better known for its travel
But what's driving Indians to burn through Groupon's inventory of onions instead of just going to a local market?
The price of the Groupon's onion deal? Nine rupees per kilogram (approximately 14 U s. cents.
Over seven days, Groupon plans to put a limited number onions on sale (limited to one kilo per customer) and ship them for free to customers in 78 cities throughout India.
This latest move from Groupon might not win them political office in India but they might win over some new fans.
Groupon. co. in
Why the biodiversity crisis is worse than the global economic crisis: There's no bailout for this onebob Bloomfield will make you worry about the state of biodiversity
contact lenses, Â parking spaces, Â phones, Â clothes, trash, stores. The list could go on. So it's not surprising that they're now on honeybees to help solve a major problem.
Of course, the newest rumors are brewing for its possible location on Gran Via (Spain's Broadway) instead.
To date, Chicago has been measuring the information for all the city-owned buildings in a massive spreadsheet
and the city's database of vacant property, excluding parks, golf courses, cemeteries and other such uses.
Perhaps the additional, continual complaints about the lack of a work-life balance could be solved by taking a leaf out of Google's book.
However, it's not all doom and gloom for the ipad and iphone maker, as 94 percent of Apple employees on the website approve of Steve jobs'replacement.
Google: Keeping staff happy is down to experiments, not just laundry Employee outsources own job to read Reddit,
Wikipedia Commons) Related on Smartplanet: Bedbug genome uncovers pesticide resistance Beyond bedbugs-lay your head to rest in the greenest hotel Watch robots climb trees,  helicopter  in and sniff bugs
and illuminated by low energy consuming LED lights at night The trees themselves are transformations of the plastic bottles, giving them a second life.
Plus, an explanation of the pyrolysis process from Honeywell UOP's Jim Rekoske. SP: How did Crane get involved with renewable energy sources?
HOW IT WORKS Smartplanet also spoke with Jim Rekoske of Honeywell UOP, one-half of the duo (Ensyn Technologies of Ottawa, Ontario,
and theyd use us as the payload developer. We support quite a few NASA-sponsored scientists.
Algae can impact our environment, consumer electronics, cars, military--you name it. But the debate really comes down to this:
Their iphones are 30-ft.-long, $60, 000 hay balers. Cloud startups have served largely their own industry--technology--first,
 Via New Scientist Image: Andrew Malone via Flickr
Building for the birds and the bees and batsbuildings are designed usually to house people, but a few recent examples provide shelter and protection for the fuzzier fellow citizens of planet Earth.
IBM analytics technology helps Sun World use drip irrigation to decrease its water usage by 8. 5%.That difference is readily apparent in a new agribusiness case study that was brought to my attention by the IBM mid-market group.
according to IBM and Sun World. Fuel usage has also been cut by 20 percent. The sales team can also use Sun World's data in conjunction with industry buying trends to figure out the best timing for campaigns.
Sun World worked with an IBM Business Partner Applied Analytix, to craft the solution. Here's his perspective from the IBM press release about the solution:
We've aimed to transform the company culture from a farming business where you'grow
director of business analytics for IBM, says there are typically three things that hold entrepreneurs back from a technology investment like this that could yield results similar to the Sun World example.
Reliance on outdated applications such as spreadsheets, which were intended never really for forecasting. An aversion to change.
developers will create it. Indeed, their physical model is beautiful. Children were oohing and aahing over the not-so-appealingly-named Compost Hill model at Moma.
and a plastic cell phone, a plastic pen and a plastic-filled wallet in my bag.
They do their lobbying from comfortable office suites in Washington or Brussels. If they lived just one month amid the misery of the developing world,
You really don't want an iphone box that says'Invented in America, made in China.'
a former electronics engineer with IBM and Sun who got the idea for a water-monitoring system
Mars, IBM, USDA publish cacao genomemars, the maker of M&ms, IBM and the U s. Department of agriculture said Wednesday that they are making the cacao genome sequence publicly available.
The game plan is to create a cacao plants that are more resistant to drought and disease while producing higher yields.
Data from the cacao genome will be available at the Cacao Genome Database without a patent.
and IBM supplied the computing power with its Blue Gene supercomputer. Meanwhile the USDA-ARS Subtropical Horticulture Research Station in Miami and researchers from UC Davis, Clemson, Indiana University, the Hudsonalpha Institute for Biotechnology and Washington state University participated.
or exterior walls of the building, creating a niche market for developers. If it gives you a different look
a Chicago developer that is turning a 500-acre industrial site on Lake michigan into a new residential and retail community.
Once a developer steps forward and says, Ëoeok, let s do this, Â that s going to jump start a lot more interest,
Crack Apple iphone Touchid feature, win $2500 and a bottle of bourbonif you're a hacker up for a challenge,
taking on Apple's iphone 5s Touchid feature could net you interesting prizes. Independent security researcher Nick Depetrillo has launched istouchidhackedyet. com,
and use the print to unlock the Apple iphone 5s. The current bounty has reached over $2500
The new iphone is due to hit stores on Friday. Depetrillo says that the project was launched not due to his wish to see the feature hacked,
U k. trade union rebels against biometric employee scanning Could Silentsense rival Apple s iphone 5s fingerprint scanner?
Dell, HP vie for spotlight again. This time, on environmental leadership. It being climate week
Yesterday, I reported that Newsweek had nodded at Hewlett-packard (No. 1) and Dell (No. 2) with their Greenest Big Companies list.
HP's update about its energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions goals sees it setting new goals for its consumption reduction goals,
according to HP, is because of the acquisition of EDS. Which if you call has A LOT OF data centers to its name.
Via Nature News Image by Waytru via Flickr
Dupont breaks ground on $200m cellulosic ethanol plantwhile dozens of companies, including BP, have ditched plans to produce cellulosic ethanol,
via tech licensing and assistance and support. As for biobutanol the company is partnering with oil giant BP on commercialization in the U s. and Brazil.
 Via New Scientist Image: J. Fang
E-business may dramatically cut paper wasteearlier in my career, I helped publish a series of books on The Office of the Future,
with all transactions and documents delivered electronically from workstation to workstation, company to company. Of course, as they say,
It s no secret that data centers ââ oe especially those run by social networking leaders such as Google
, Microsoft, and Amazon ââ oe are the new industrial behemoths of the 21st Century.
I could just pick up the phone and call Envirelation, which offers food composting services for hundreds of clients in the region,
Via Quartz Images: Jack Dykinga (top), Rob Flynn (bottom)/ USDA
Finding power in coffee wasteresearchers at the Energy & Environmental Research center at the University of North dakota once worked on technology to convert waste from a space station and future Martian bases into heat and power.
productivity with IBM analyticsanalytics technology that has enabled a Michigan agricultural cooperative better account for the source of fruits
The technology platform, built by IBM business partner N2n Global, collects, stores and analyzes data about the food being handled by Cherry Central Cooperative from the time it is harvested and processed,
From there it is uploaded to a central database, where the information can be shared with Traverse City, Mich.
Steve Eiseler, vice president of operations at Cherry Central Cooperative, said the IBM-based technology has allowed his organization to significantly reduce the amount of paperwork necessary to remain in compliance with government food traceability requirements
Cherry Central reported that its database was growing at a rate of 1. 6 million records per month.
The technology that Cherry Central is using includes IBM DB2 Web Query running on the Power system platform.
The cooperative is using a custom IBM System x application from N2n Global called the Quality & Food safety Manager.
Sydney to London on the Plastic Fantastic powered flight Move over graphene: Bamboo is the next wonder material Friends of Earth rain on Lufthansa biofuels parade Biofuels fly mainstream:
Honeywell: The Lindbergh of aviation biofuels
Food of the future: can'Frankenfish'survive politics? Sometime this summer or soon after, the federal Food and Drug Administration may finally approve the first-ever genetically modified animal for human consumption--a fast-growing Atlantic salmon that has taken 17 years to reach the threshold of American consensus. The man to thank
while also helping give rise to new industries, from compost haulers to app makers. In February 2009, Elmore's nonprofit group, Elemental Impact, convinced Atlanta officials and its biggest food-service outfits to launch the nation's first-ever Zero Waste Zone around its downtown hotels
In France, they have a smartphone app that sends out alerts so stores can tell consumers
from apps that help with meal planning and keeping track of groceries to smart refrigerators that do this as well
Fuel producer Honeywell UOP says that camelina grows on fallow wheat fields and improves yields in the fields subsequent wheat-growing years.
and was a former blood diamond company that regrouped as an African green fuel operation, according to the UK's The Telegraph.
they've developed an online mapping app to help track their illicit produce and have an active Facebook group to help grow popularity. via LA Times,
A fungus called Phytophthora austrocedrae is so much on the rampage that according to The Telegraph it could wipe out the already shrinking population of the U k.'s native juniper trees.
the Telegraph claimed. Shudder at the thought of a world with no gin. Tennessee williams, The Great Gatsby, Somerset Maugham and Raymond Chandler could not have done without.
when it comes to listening to Lady gaga on an iphone, watching Terminator 3 for the 25th time on our digital screen,
British homes owned 3. 5 times as many consumer electronics devices ââ oetvs, DVD players, set top boxes and the like ââ oe in 2009 than they did in 1990,
Consumer electronics became the largest electricity consumer in the household by 2005. The report claims that in the UK,
electricity consumption from consumer electronics surged from 12.1 terawatt hours (TWH) in 1990 to 19.9 TWH in 2005 and to 20.8 TWH in 2009.
But oh those computers, phones and TVS. I m certainly guilty. I live in Britain where yesterday I listened to the Pittsburgh steelers thump the New england patriots via Internet connected radio all the way from the USA Ã Â
Top, Wikimedia/Linux insidev2; Bottom, Energy Saving Trust More digital global warming: Facebook plans Subarctic data center Iceland cometh
Wikipedia Commons
GIS tools map social injustice in civil rights caseswhat can a map tell us about the world?
Google unveils deforestation monitor to combat climate changethe  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
 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,
Google wishes barcodes happy 57th birthdaywhen millions of people this morning switched on their PCS,
the ubiquitous Google doodle was unusual. It was a barcode. Why? Google is celebrating the 57th anniversary of the first patent for barcodes.
Google itself says little about its choice its choice except Invention of the bar code. Normally, the Google herald celebrates a holiday or person, not a thing.
This morning's Google doodle Patent number 2, 612,994 was granted to barcode inventors Norman J. Woodland of Ventnor, N. J. and Bernard Silver of Philadelphia on Oct 7, 1952.
In pure`patentese,'the second paragraph reads as follows: It is to provide automatic apparatus for classifying things according to photo-response to lines and/or colors
which constitute classification instructions and which have been attached to, imprinted upon or caused to represent the things be classified.
The doodle spells Google in Code 128, according to Techcrunch. Google is not exactly a disinterested party
when it comes to barcodes. It has an open source project known as ZXING to allow cell phones
and cameras to scan barcodes without using a server. Wikipedia barcode in code 128 What I find remarkable is that
when Google honors the barcode by its doodling it, everyone including me writes about it.
At the moment, there's 69 related articles about the barcode doodle. It's as if the  government had declared a national barcode holiday.
Norman Joseph Woodland, according to Wikipedia, celebrated his 88th birthday on Sept. 6 Â and got his idea in 1951
As a mechanical engineer, he spent much of career with IBM and was instrumental in coming up the Universal product code that put bar codes into practice and your life.
Norman J. Woodland Silver who died young in 1964 does not have his own Wikipedia page,
Google's new super headquarters open in London's Covent Gardengoogle s new super headquarters in London by designers PENSON may be home to some Union jack flag themes,
Pension really delivered on Google's new digs. The designers call the design a London townhouse-hybrid
Pension has named different parts of the office things like Secret Gardens, Allotments, Google Green, Google Park and Grannies Flat,
in compliance with Google's famed Red List that focuses on removing toxic ingredients of materials.
The Gardens connect to Google's cafe, and Google Park, which is a big garden.
The cafe was designed with a retro-feel and has a view over the city. The Google Green looks out across this area
linking together the cafe, Gardens and the Town hall, and features couches for Town hall overflow or informal meetings.
The super HQ follows along the new trends in office buildings, especially for the more progressive tech companies like Apple, Google Facebook and Twitter.
at roughly 330 liters per day for water consumed via the distribution system, and a massive 550 liters per day for all uses, including groundwater sources.
So Google Green, take note: There's a hungry segment of small business owners who could really benefit from real-time guidance on avoiding slow roads,
According to The Telegraph: Albert Einstein, who liked to make bold claims (often wrong), famously said that
Einstein was right-honey bee collapse threaten global food security The Telegraph Photo: Â cygnus921/flickr Related on Smartplanet:
Yesterday I caught up by phone with Dave Marshall, a Portland city councilor and chair of the Energy and Environmental Sustainability Committee.
we just haven t quantified them. via Co. Exist
How to feed an astronaut: a talk with NASA's space food managerwhile it's not exactly five-star cuisine,
The Michigan scientists looked at unused land using aerial imagery and tapped into the city's database.
IBM supercomputer named world's fastest, lands new jobonce again, America can brag about having the world Â's fastest supercomputer.
IBM Â's Sequoia helped regained the top spot on the TOP500 list of the world s top supercomputers.
Drawing from 1, 572,864 cores, the IBM Bluegene/Q system clocked in at 16.32 petaflops per second, according to the LINPACK benchmark.
For clarification, a petaflop is measured as a thousand trillion floating point operations per second. In less technical terms, it would take 6. 7 billion people continuously typing on calculators for 320 years to complete as many calculations as the Sequoia can get done in just an hour.
And just behind the Japanese system is another IBM machine, the Mira, which registered at 8. 15 petaflop/s. In fact, of the top 10 fastest supercomputers,
half of them were built by Big Blue. Related post: World s fastest processor is an overclocked beast video So
what exactly is all that processing power used for? Located at the US Department of energy's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, the world Â's most capable computer has just been enlisted this month to carry out nuclear weapon simulations.
While it Â's natural to assume that the crown jewel of IBM computing systems would be a real energy vampire
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