intelligence

MIT MAV jockeys: We don't need no stinkin' GPS

Micro Air Vehicles (MAVs) may be small, but they're costly, so researchers have devised ways for them to fly in GPS-denied urban and indoor environments where they could otherwise get lost or crash.

Existing highly-precise, non-GPS navigation units are too large, heavy, and expensive to install on an MAV. But the Robust Robotics Group at MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory addressed this problem by developing algorithms that allow a miniature robo-quadrocopter to estimate their relative position, identify a clear path and then fly through dense air space.

"The size, weight, and budget limitations of … Read more

EcoFactor pings thermostats to save energy

Start-up EcoFactor is looking at home energy management as a big math problem.

The Silicon Valley-based company on Tuesday is formally launching and is announcing that the largest utilty in Texas, Oncor, has signed on with EcoFactor's residential energy-management service for three years.

There are several companies developing Web-based software or displays to show consumers, in more detail than a monthly bill, how much energy they are using.

EcoFactor's software, by contrast, works behind the scenes by gathering data from a two-way thermostat and then analyzing the information to optimize heating and cooling systems, which often account for … Read more

Mouse costs more than a laptop (almost $1,200)

Great. So you sprang for an uber-expensive laptop the likes of the Sony Vaio X or Dell Adamo. But what's this? You dare put your el cheapo $50 mouse next to that gorgeous and overpriced portable?

If you do not want to be arrested by the fashion police, then only this wireless mouse by Dutch firm Intelligent Design will do. To quote from the press release, the ID Mouse is made from "grade 1 titanium and high-quality plastic resin" and has a neodymium scroll wheel. Using the standard Bluetooth protocol, it requires two AAA-size batteries to power … Read more

Strange puzzle game

Random Intelligence Test will seem like a joke to most users since it is an intelligence test that didn't tell us how intelligent we are. Its frustrating design and lack of direction ensures this game is a flop.

This program was one unintelligent headache after another, starting with its lack of a Help file and any direction as to how the game should be played. We tried moving the multicolored balls around the gridlike game board for several minutes without understanding why our scores kept changing. Eventually, we realized that linking up same-colored balls earned points. However, we never … Read more

British Telecom picks Jaspersoft for analytics

If you need further proof that open-source applications are ready for prime time, take today's news from open-source business intelligence company Jaspersoft, which announced that British Telecom is using its business intelligence suite to support more than 8 million voice mail subscribers.

BT and Unisys, a longtime Jaspersoft partner, say they chose Jaspersoft for its modular design, which reduces maintenance and cost and gives them customization abilities that improve capacity planning.

The deal with BT also represents how important a solid channel strategy is for open-source software companies.

Jaspersoft CEO Brian Gentile has in the past mentioned that the … Read more

BOL 1059: Nano Goes retro with FM radio

Apple announcements were a little mundane. The One More Thing was an iPod Nano with a camera. We were more impressed with the fact that they added an FM radio. But really that's the No. 2 story. The Palm Pixi caught our eye for top billing. Should it catch yours?

Subscribe with iTunes (audio) Subscribe with iTunes (video) Subscribe with RSS (audio) Subscribe with RSS (video) EPISODE 1059

New WebOS phone comes to Sprint: The Pixi (formerly Eos) http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/the-palm-pixi-is-official-headed-to-sprint-this-holiday-season/ http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-10347387-94.html

Apple announces something or other http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10323196-37.html … Read more

HealthBase--medical search engines maturing

It all started with Content Intelligence--focusing on understanding the actual meanings of sentences independent of grammar, lexicon, etc., and creating structured semantic indexes from massive volumes of content to power search experiences.

It wasn't until after the Mountain View, Calif.-based NetBase Solutions developed its content intelligence platform that the company decided to test it out in the world of medicine. Their just-unveiled HealthBase is to medicine what Kayak.com is to travel--the mother search engine of not just content, but other search engines.

Culling through 10 million health articles and sorting search results on two types of … Read more

How open source levels all software market segments

In a new study on open-source adoption in the business intelligence (BI) market, it's becoming clear that both the benefits and shortcomings of open source software are nearly universal across all technology segments.

According to the study by Third Nature (sponsored by Jaspersoft and Infobright), "the top reason for adopting is still cost savings, although reduced vendor dependence and ease of integration were close to the same level. The limiting of vendor technology lock‐in and freedom from deployment restrictions were key elements of reducing vendor dependence. Some companies used open source deployments as a means of keeping … Read more

Social networks--the new front in war on terror

Unnamed intelligence agencies and certain academics have yet to give up on data mining to identify terrorists and predict attacks, despite a 352-page tome published last year pronouncing the practice a waste of time.

The U.S. is spending "hundreds of millions of dollars" to develop techniques to mine the mountains of information gleaned from e-mails, telephone calls, interviews with suspects, and now social networks to build-up Facebook-style databanks on international terrorists, according to a recent piece in the British newspaper, The Independent.

The result has been the arrest and interrogation of "many thousands of innocent people&… Read more

Imagining a Google in physical retail

What would Google look like if you took it offline and forced it to set up in physical space?

Google's tens of thousands of commodity Linux servers would need to be scattered around the globe so as to collect and then aggregate consumer interest. A lot like Path Intelligence, in other words.

Tim O'Reilly invested in Path Intelligence back in 2007. After lunching with Path Intelligence CEO Toby Oliver Friday in London, I can see why. The idea is to set up receivers in shopping malls and other retail areas to collect mobile data and analyze consumer behavior … Read more