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Posts Tagged ‘Skepticism’

Scientists discover method for rapid charging Li-ion batteries
Huzzah! Yet another discovery for us to add to our ever-expanding list of “awesome things that’ll never actually happen!” Ibrahim Abou Hamad and colleagues from Mississippi State University have reportedly devised a method of charging batteries that could hasten the process rather significantly, and better still, it could provide “an increase in battery power densities” as well. The only problem? Lithium-ion batteries have been disappointing tech users for years, and so long as Energizer and Duracell are calling the shots, we kind of doubt a lot will be done to improve the longevity of ‘em. Skepticism aside, the new method involves some fancy black magic surrounding molecular dynamics simulations, and researchers have found a way to boost charging time by “simulating the intercalation of lithium ions into the battery’s graphite anode.” We know we just went way over your heads on a Friday afternoon, but if techobabble’s your thing, all you can handle is right there in the Source link.

Scientists discover method for rapid charging Li-ion batteries originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 13 Mar 2010 03:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Week in gaming: Mass Effect 2 review, OnLive, hacked PS3s

Mass Effect 2 takes the series into a bold new direction, while keeping the stories and characterization that made us fall in love with the first game. OnLive is facing some serious skepticism after the controversial road test by PC Perspective, and another beta tester confirms the initial impressions of lag and a lack of graphical fidelity. Tatsunoko vs. Capcom? You need to play it.

These stories and more are waiting for you in the week in gaming.

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When NOT to Use Social Media

These days, everyone is talking about social media and discussing what services and tools to use, how to use them, why you should use them, etc. In fact, if you listened to all the advice out there, you would probably think that no matter who you are, whether an individual wanting to build a personal brand, or a large multinational corporation intent on communicating with customers, you should be using social media. But is social media for everyone? Are there times when you shouldn’t be using it at all?

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Editor’s note: This story is part of a series we call Redux, where we’ll re-publish some of our best posts of 2009. As we look back at the year – and ahead to what next year holds – we think these are the stories that deserve a second glance. It’s not just a best-of list, it’s also a collection of posts that examine the fundamental issues that continue to shape the Web. We hope you enjoy reading them again and we look forward to bringing you more Web products and trends analysis in 2010. Happy holidays from Team ReadWriteWeb!

According to B&B, a magazine for marketing strategists, there are definitely some scenarios when social media should be avoided. In a recent article, they listed what these were:

1. You’re in a high-ticket business:  The article recommends that businesses with only a few customers who each spend tens of millions of dollars with the company each year are better off not using social media. Instead, face-to-face interactions and phone calls will still work better.
2. You fight with your employees: In some businesses, management and employees are constantly at odds. (An example was given of a unionized workforce where management-labor strife was common). This is also not the type of company that should encourage employees to communicate directly with customers via social media.
3. Management skepticism: If management doesn’t believe in social media, then employees who have been told for years that public communication needs to be filtered will be hesitant to try out a new medium which requires them to speak openly. In this scenario, management needs to encourage and reward participation to make social media work. If they don’t, it will fail.
4. Strategic Vacuum: Don’t do social media just to do social media. If a company doesn’t know what they’re trying to accomplish, then there will be nothing to measure and no way to determine success. Just as with any other initiative a company takes on, there needs to be an objective…and that objective shouldn’t be to distribute a press release.
5. Privacy and regulatory concerns: If you work for a company where what you say in public could send you to jail, proceed with caution. You’ll probably even need lawyers involved (sigh).

But Don’t Be Afraid to Try!

All that being said, outside of a handful of scenarios, there is still plenty of room for growth when it comes to social media. For example, the results of a recent survey put out by marketing intelligence specialist WebTrends found that only 2% of businesses are using Twitter as a marketing tool. Only 2% – can you believe that?

Perhaps the problem is that businesses are hesitant to dip their toes into the water because they’re unsure of how to proceed. Social media community members, such as those on Twitter, can be very critical of the companies they think are “doing it wrong.” The backlash can be brutal…and not necessarily good for your brand, either. In other words, businesses thinking of getting involved with this platform should definitely think before they leap.

As it turns out, that was the exact advice Sarah Milstein gave at last week’s Web 2.0 Expo out in San Francisco. At her session, “Effective Twitter,” she recommended that companies consider the following questions before diving in:

• What will be different in 3, 6, 12 months as a result of our Twitter account?
• Who are we hoping to connect with?
• What kind of information is interesting to them?
• What might go wrong? What expectations might people have of us?

(Her session also had a number of other good resources – you may want to check out the PDF summary here.)

During Milstein’s presentation, audience members were furiously scribbling down her every word as if this was the first time they had ever heard this information! Of course, it probably was. Although the right and wrong ways to use Twitter and the tools that can help you use it better may be old hat to some of us who live and breathe this stuff, but it’s clear that to many people out there, this information is incredibly new…and intimidating.

This is unchartered territory for a lot of companies and many of them are just now beginning to think about their strategies and levels of involvement. You could literally see this trend in action at the Expo. There, some of the top sessions, the ones so jam-packed that it was standing room only, were specifically about social media and marketing. Twitter, Facebook, community building, etc…people just couldn’t get enough.

This makes us wonder if 2009 be the year that social media really goes mainstream? Or, will the experimentations continue? We think it’s possible that it will be both. Companies will try new things using social media. Some will succeed and some will fail, but in the end it will be these experimentations, led by the big brands, that will help push social media further out into the limelight than it is now.

Of course, having more Hollywood celebs sign up for Twitter couldn’t hurt either.

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The Wonder Of Apple’s Tablet

In 2007, just prior to its launch, I was absolutely positive I wasn’t going to buy an iPhone. My rationale was that I didn’t even like using a cellphone, so why would I want a $600 one? What I wanted was a touch screen iPod — basically, an iPhone without the phone. In other words, I wanted an iPod touch, but that didn’t exist yet, so I would sit back and wait, I told myself. Then came iPhone launch day: June 29, 2007. Curiosity about the launch day hoopla drove me to an Apple store. There was a line around the block just to get in. So again, there was no way I was getting an iPhone. But then I started to wonder why so many people were lined up for this device — what was I missing? A few hours later I returned to the Apple Store. I waited in a much shorter line to get in. I walked up to the iPhones out on display, picked one up, played with it for all of 10 seconds. I left the Apple store $600 poorer.

My point in telling that story is that all signs indicate that we’re closing in on another new Apple product, a tablet computer. And the hype around it is already palpable. But so is the skepticism among many — skepticism similar to what I felt with the iPhone. “Why would anyone want a tablet computer?” “It will be way too expensive, no one will buy it.” “This is all just nonsense Apple hype.” Those are a few of the more common reactions against the still-mysterious device. But I’m not going to be tricked again. Conventional wisdom suggests that Apple will not be able to succeed where so many others have failed. But Apple makes billions defying conventional wisdom.

The truth is that most of us don’t understand the allure of a tablet computer because they’ve all sucked up until now. It’s the exact same reason that I didn’t understand the iPhone at first. My cellphones leading up to the iPhone ranged from “okay” to “junk.” The idea of getting one with such a high price tag was insanity to me. But within seconds of using the iPhone, I was able to tell that Apple had made something completely different. It wasn’t a cellphone as I had known them. It redefined the category. And while there are no sure things in the tech world, I would bet that Apple’s tablet will do the same.

If an outsider were to look at the tech news coverage of the past few days, they’d think there is an oddly disproportionate amount of Apple tablet talk. Why is that? The lazy answer is that everyone is a bunch of Apple fanboys. But the reality is that it’s dozens of blogs and all the mainstream media sites covering this news about a product which no one is even 100% sure exists. Everyone is covering it because there is a huge amount of interest about the device among each site’s readership. And it goes far beyond that. People outside the tech world, those who don’t ever read tech blogs, have been asking me about it recently. And Apple’s stock is at an all-time high based on the rumors of this device.

Part of it is that Apple has a sterling record with consumer-oriented products. Sure, there are some duds, like the Mighty Mouse. And yes, there are some slip-ups, like my new iLemon. But overall, Apple commands attention in the consumer space because more often than not, they nail it. Going deeper, Apple is not afraid to step outside of the traditional comfort zones to try to create a new product — even if others have failed there before, as is the case with tablets. While this stirs skepticism in some, in many more people, it creates a sense of wonder. What if Apple can do it right this time? It’s exciting partially because it’s no sure thing. It’s exciting because the payoff is potentially huge. By this time next year, we may have a whole new genre of computing. It’s an undiscovered country.

But it’s also familiar. There’s a quote from the first season of Mad Men that I think applies in this regard. “But he also talked about a deeper bond with the product. Nostalgia. It’s delicate, but potent,” Don Draper says leading up to his Kodak Carousel presentation. The core idea of a tablet is interesting to people on a fundamental level. At least as far back as Moses with the Ten Commandments, it has been a part of the human psyche. It’s something that couldn’t be simpler. It’s a slate that displays information. It’s not a computer with a mess of peripherals and/or physical buttons. If a media and web-centric computer were being designed today with no thought to what the computing norms of the past were, it would be a tablet.

It also points to the future of interacting with computers. The mouse and keyboard will one day die and everything will be touch and gesture-based. We’ll be living in a future with Minority Report, Star Trek, and Avatar interactive technology. To many of us, few things are more exciting. To others, that concept is foreign and as such, scary. Regardless, it will happen and the tablet computer is the latest, and perhaps most important step in a line of technology taking us there.

I think a lot of people understand that, even if they don’t realize it. That’s why we saw so much interest in the CrunchPad. It was to be a simple, touchscreen device that you could surf the web on. For many people, that’s more than enough of a computer.

And the truth is that Apple has already proven the concept. The iPhone is a tablet computer, just smaller. Recently, a former Apple employee was quoted in the New York Times as saying that much of the early work on the tablet exists today in the iPhone. The iPhone is the computer I use the most now day in and day out. And again, I never thought I’d want one. So while the immediate use of the tablet in our homes already riddled with computer may not be apparent just yet, I have no doubt that it will prove itself to be very useful.

I have no idea what the tablet will be called (Robin lays out a comprehensive tale of why it may be the “iSlate”), what its specs will be, or how much it will cost. But I’m not going to make the mistake of dismissing it like I did with the iPhone simply because its practicality isn’t immediately apparent. If it succeeds, it will likely redefine the role of computing in our lives just as the iPhone has. That’s exciting. And that’s why we care so much about it.

[images: 20th Century Fox and Paramount Pictures]

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When less is more: the basics of physicalization

The word “physicalization” is ten months old. This January, Rackable Systems launched a strange line of servers which defied all the conventional wisdom of server design by disaggregating larger servers into many smaller ones based on consumer parts, and in the process lowering power and performance density. Ars, among others, expressed skepticism over the strange design decisions, but launches from other major vendors suggest that, for some market segments, the server space is taking a turn in a novel new direction. Ars has covered this trend before, but we now take a more detailed look at it, with a survey of available physicalization offerings, analysis of the reasons for their adoption, and some predictions about the future.

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Production Canon EOS 7D video samples hit the web

We’ve already seen some video from a pre-production Canon EOS 7D, but it looks like it’s hitting stores now, and this is the first video we’ve seen from a final retail unit. It’s genuinely impressive, especially since filmmaker Dan Chung says most of it was shot at 1600 to 6400 ISO, but it’s important to realize that he was also using some seriously expensive lenses, a specialized video viewfinder, a wide-angle mattebox to reduce lens flare, and a separate external microphone for audio. Was that enough responsible skepticism for you? Good, because we also think the 7D looks like it’s going to rock, and we can’t wait to try one out. Video after the break, along with a shot of Dan’s video rig.

[Via Planet5D]

Continue reading Production Canon EOS 7D video samples hit the web

Filed under: Digital Cameras

Production Canon EOS 7D video samples hit the web originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 Sep 2009 00:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google Docs Adds Translation, But It’s Not Without Flaws

Google has now integrated its translation technology into Google Docs, allowing users to convert their documents into any one of 42 languages with the click of a button. While the official Google blog highlighted a usage case of a child translating her drawing for her family, the enterprise blog post showcases a different usage case, one for enterprises that need to translate documents for the multilingual teams that operate in a global business landscape. There’s just one problem with the tool: translations are pretty rough, and it’s not suited to any application for which quality is critical. That makes it fine for casual use, but not for Google Apps enterprise and education customers.

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Using the translate tool was pretty simple. Just open your document, go Tools > Translate document, and then choose your language. It’s enabled now for all users, so you can try it for yourself too.

In his Google Enterprise post, Jason Harris outlined just why this is an incremental but vital addition to Google Docs. “At Google, I often collaborate with colleagues around the world, so it’s quite common to be working with someone whose native language is different from my own.”

It’s not just Google that operates as a multilingual organization these days. While English is definitely a lingua franca for those using internationally distributed teams, there still comes a time when you might need your document translated.

Proceed with Caution

But if this translation is going to be used professionally, you might want to do so with a healthy dose of skepticism when it comes to accuracy. Our test of the translation found it was just as rough as the public version that has long been available at translate.google.com.

We translated the first paragraph of the Google article on Wikipedia from English to Chinese and then back to English. If you try this same kind of test yourself, it quickly becomes obvious that this is no replacement for a human being; a good deal of meaning was lost in the process.

We didn’t really expect this to be of mind-blowing perfection. But Google has definitely been pushing Google Apps as a suite worth spending big bucks on. To have something that unreliable included in a product they’re marketing as enterprise-grade software is not the best idea. The simplest solution would be to make clear that the Docs translation is not to be depended upon for mission-critical work, but unfortunately Google has done no such thing yet.

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Finally a Good Use for Google Knol: Sharing Information About Flu Research

Last year, Google Knol launched to a lot of hype and skepticism. While, at first, it looked like a possible Wikipedia-challenger, in reality, it didn’t attract a lot of users or attention, even though some of the articles on the site are actually quite good and well written. Today, however, Google announced that the Public Library of Science (PLoS), a non-profit organization focused on providing free access to scientific and medical literature, will use Knol to give scientists a place to collaborate and share research on important topics, including influenza research.

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PLoS Currents, as this project is called, will first focus on influenza research and might later expand to other topics. In order to keep the standard of the submissions high, PLoS will be able to use a number of new moderation tools in Knol to vet submissions and comments. Any submission that is accepted for publication will immediately appear on PLoS Currents and will also be publicly archived at the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). All articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which allows anybody to share and remix these papers (with attribution).

Overall, we think this is a great project. Knol is a good, easy-to-use platform for these kinds of publications, and given that the articles are also archived on other servers, this project also doesn’t rely on Google to keep Knol’s servers running indefinitely.

PLoS, being a non-profit, is also the right organization to give this project a try. Commercial publishers are still wary of the Internet, and while the open access movement has been gathering some support over the last few years, a lot of research in most scientific fields will still be hidden behind paywalls for a long time.

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