Ford's New F3T Manufacturing Technology

Ford's New F3T Manufacturing Technology

http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/160362-ford-f3t-prototyping-rapid

Metal stamping is a long and tedious manufacturing technique that is used to shape sheet metal into usable pieces.  This technique is essential to auto industries, our military, etc.  What makes the process tedious is that every different shape takes a different dye, and many shapes take multiple dyes.  Once these dyes have been made and set up in the correct order, you can make parts as fast as you can push them through the different dyes.  So this process limits creativity and promotes generic models.

Ford's new F3T Tech (Free-form Fabrication Technology) promotes the opposite.  This new fabrication tech does the whole sheet at once and allows variability to the shapes it can create.  The advantages of this new technology range from faster production times to more flexibility and quicker transitions to different forms.  F3T, like stamping, is all based off of CAD which all engineers are accustomed too so there will be no change in material.

I attached the link right under the title of this blog.  If you watch the video in that article it shows the process of F3T's fabrication.  Do you think Ford's new technology promotes more creativity than the metal stamping that is now in use?

Personalized Medicine Used for the Treatment of Lung Cancer

Personalized medicine uses information about a person's genes, proteins, and cellular environment to prevent, diagnose, and treat disease. At NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center the advent of personalized medicine is changing how we treat patients by employing targeted treatment strategies based on a tumor's specific molecular characteristics. Many tumors have unique pathologic and molecular characteristics that may warrant different treatment strategies. With these targeted therapies, our team can develop treatment strategies with greater specificity, at the same time helping patients avoid side effects from treatments that may be less-than-optimal for their tumor type.

The Columbia University Thoracic Oncology team uses less invasive methods to diagnose and biopsy tissue for analysis prior to full treatment utilizing proteomic analyses, gene expression analyses, and chromosomal abnormalities analyses. These tests also enable us to guide our patients toward clinical trials and new drugs that may be tailored to the patient and the genetic analysis of the tumor. Some presently open clinical trials can be searched on our Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center webpage:http://www.hiccc.columbia.edu/clinical-trials/

This video describes personalized medicine and describes how it is uesd to treat lung cancer. For more information. visit http://www.columbiathoracic.org

3-D Printing: This Centuries Most Disruptive Innovation?

3-D Printing: This Centuries Most Disruptive Innovation

3-D Printing video link

This video points out major ways that 3-D printing is going to change our world.  3-D printing will change many common hings like: what is luxurious, how we by, how we view ourselves, and even how we have fun.  These printers will not only change common things but can also impact necessary hings like: food, medical care, laws, architecture, economy, and even our environment.

The first disruptive advantage 3-D printers have is the ability to pint themselves.  Once you have a 3-D printer you can literally print all of the parts for another one and assemble it.  This is a very unique characteristic that no other non-living thing has.  That sounds disruptive to me.

These printers can print very elaborate objects that would otherwise be hand-made and decrease the time to produce exponentially.  This will make luxurious objects less expensive and eventually change what we view as luxurious as a whole.  This same concept will apply to fashion.  These expensive, elaborate clothes will be produced easily with 3-D printing.  It will change how we wear clothes and how they are produced.

3-D printers can also change more important, essential parts of our lives like I mentioned in the first paragraph.  These printers can make ice sculptures, and make elaborate cakes way faster (and better) than humans.  That will completely change the food industry as we know it.  The most beneficial characteristic in my opinion is the ability to print your skin cells onto another part of your body.  This will advance the medical industry tremendously and make skin graphs more available and cheaper for the public.

The most disruptive change will come to our laws.  Think about anyone with one of these printers being able to print a working gun.  That makes the availability of weapons to the public increase as well, which could impact some interesting parts of our justice system.  Do you think that 3-D printing is the mos disruptive technology of this century?

Voice-Enabled Apps

Technology is a tool that is evolving everyday.  It is always changing, and remaking itself to be, better, and faster than yesterday.  The push for making new technology is at a high demand.  Tech companies are always in competition, to be the first to put out the latest technology.  Even after the companies put out the technology, they have to immediately start to upgrade, and make that tech even better.  A new race that has started in the technology world, is the voice-enabled app.  As humans, we are always looking to make are lives just a little bit easier.  From remotes for changing the channel on TV's, to the riding lawn mower for cutting our grass.  No matter what the task is, we are always looking to make it easier and faster.

            Easier and faster is what we want all want.  This is what voice-enabled apps  will do for us.  As of right now for the most part, apps are controlled by touch on our smartphones.  This soon may be changed to the sound of our voices.  You may be asking yourself, why is this such a big deal to begin with?  The reason being is that with speech, one won't even have to use their hands.  The point of the voice enabled app, is to allow the user, to have their hands free.  This allows the user to be able to pay more attention, to what is going on in front of them, rather than on their phone.  The voice app will allow drivers to send texts, emails, and make phone calls safely, all by just talking to their phones.  The users will not even have to pick-up, or look at their phones to do this.  There are actually hundreds of apps that are using voice to control the app.  One of the most successful voice implications, is iphone's Siri.  Siri has proven to be pretty successful, and shows by the sales of the iphone, since implementing the tech into the iphone.

            I believe that the voice-enabled app, will prove to be very successful.  The reasons being are, people would much rather talk, then to have to use their fingers to type out messages.  Especially since for many people, typing can be difficult at times because, their fingers are bigger than the keys.  Speaking out an email or text is much faster, and easier that typing it out.  Then there is the advantage of having our hands free.  We are always moving, and need our hands to be free as possible.  With all of the pros to the voice enabled app, do you think it will be long before all apps, are able to be controlled by voice?

Why Speech will replace touch for Smartphone Apps

Data Analytics: Preventing an Aaron Hernandez Situation

Over the last two years, there has been an incredible amount of illegal activities done by football players that have effected their team. The big topic now is domestic abuse done by Greg Hardy and Ray Rice, but the biggest case was done by Aaron Fernandez, who went to jail for murder. He was the New England Patriots star tight end and was a graduate from Florida University under the excellent coaching of Urban Meyer, so how could this situation be avoided?

With data analytics and player tracking making such a huge impact in the sports industry, there has to be a better way to predict responsive behavior. It is great to scout a player to find the right fit based on on the field analytics, but in generation it is even greater to find the best player who won't cause any off the field disruptions. Nobody could have predicted the Aaron Fernandez situation, or even for that matter the Ray Rice situation, because neither one had a track record, they were both quiet and hard workers, and even heavily involved in charitable deeds. Yes mistakes do happen, but for teams those mistakes can heavily impact them. My suggestion is to do more in depth analysis with IQ testing to be able to have more problem and solution or cause and effect situations. Possibly even using virtual gaming to be able to predict their responsiveness to situations. Unfortunately, I don't think the Aaron Fernandez situation could have been prevented or avoided, but I believe data analytics could prevent the likelihood of signing or drafting these types of players.

Do you hold teams responsible for these types of situations or players? Is there anything teams can do to better protect or educate players?

The Race Toward Autonomous Driving

As you may remember, I wrote a few weeks back about Tesla’s new semi-self-driving feature that was coming out as an update. The system has now hit the market and has been a resounding success, so much so that its existence is beginning to bring fear to other automotive and technology corporations, as they realize that with this substantial head start, Tesla could leave them all in the proverbial dust, beating them to the punch with the first fully automated vehicles. One of the key points of Tesla’s strategy, however, is the idea that their self-pilot system is set up to be an evolutionary system, one which starts with some simple driver’s aid functions and a handful of situations in which the car can pilot itself, but will learn over time how to conduct itself in more demanding traffic scenarios. This means that Tesla’s model will take years to develop and even longer to go onto the public market. What the automakers and technology companies who are trying to stick their hands in the cookie jar that is automated driving should fear, in contrast, is a revolution.

                 

                         Image by Sam Churchill in conjunction with Google

YahooFinancial holds that this revolution is well on its way at the Google Corporation. The company is spending at a current rate of about $30 million dollars per year to fund their project which, rather than being on the market in a half-developed system a la Tesla, is in specialized test vehichles and is slowly learning not only the simple maneuvers that Teslas are just now catching onto, but the more advanced driving situations like adverse weather conditions, road construction, and other non-commonplace situations. Perhaps most importantly, Google has a massive network of previously gathered information from its other projects, such as research and development into robotic technologies and the massive Google Earth program, which is a distinct advantage against automakers who have to either develop these systems from scratch or, more often than not, develop a partnership with another company who does specialize in technological research.

With this, the race to produce the first publicly available self-driving automobile is on, and the question we find ourselves asking is this: Who will win, the makers of automobiles or of technology?

Uses For Drone Technology Other Than Killing Anonymous People in the Middle East

Drones. The United States Government has heavily utilized this technology in the Middle East as part of their war on terror (while trying not to think about how many innocent civilians they've killed).
But, the popularity of using drones by individuals is also starting to grow, leading to some ways that people can use drones to do some pretty cool things (and not kill anyone).

1. Video
Drones can be used to capture video footage that in the past would have required extensive helicopter use. For instance, film directors are starting to use drones more and more to get shots and angles they couldn't get before

2. Weather
Drones have the ability to fly right into the heart of storms and other natural phenomena, and gather information about them that was unavailable before. For example, drones were recently used to gather footage and information about an active volcano explosion.

3. Drone Fight Club
Probably the coolest yet, there is actually a league where drone users battle it out with other drones in cage matches. First rule of drone fight club - don't talk about drone fight club.

Hopefully, the US Government will end their drone strike program at some point (not holding out hope though). But until then, lets hope we can continue to find ethical, practical ways to utilize this growing technology.

Would you ever buy a drone for personal use? 

The power and danger of geo-location

"Historically, privacy was almost implicit, because it was hard to find and gather information. But in the digital world, whether it's digital cameras or satellites or just what you click on, we need to have more explicit rules - not just for governments but for private companies." This quote by Bill Gates emphasizes the importance given to privacy for both human beings and companies.
Geo-location is the process of finding, determining and providing the exact location of a computer, networking device or equipment. it enables device location based on geographical coordinates and measurements. With the consistent improving of technologies, geo-location is getting more useful and precise at the same time. You would thing that it is a good thing- well not not for everybody...



While geo-location potential and assets are numerous. Connected devices (smartphones, internet...) use geo-location. By requesting location information, the organizations in charge of those devices are able to send handful information to the customer. For instance this tool helps a smartphone user to know about the local weather, getting update on the local area traffic etc.
As we can imagine, geo-location has become an important focus for the mobile marketers. indeed, “Employing location-based marketing carries some additional costs, which is ultimately due to paying for specialist technology and skills,” says Scott Curtis, European mobile strategy and development director at Starcom Mediavest Group. When employed effectively, geo-location is a great tool, it allows particular audiences to be targeted on a large scale. “But it’s best used when overlaid with other attributes such as time of day,” explains Tom Twigg, head of strategy at M&C Saatchi Mobile. Furthermore with the sophisticated software available, geo-location  to find the position of your phone if you lost it. It's impact seems unlimited, and that's why it is also dangerous. 

Like stated earlier, geo-location has plenty of strengths, but those assets can also be seen as to intrusive. Its use can be really problematic if not used for the good purpose. Geo-location could become the "Big Brother" of our advanced society. Everybody remembers the famous George Orwell novel's nineteen eighty-four. In this novel the name big brother is used as a symbolic figurehead of a totalitarian state wherein the ruling party  ahd total power over the inhabitants. It is maybe exaggerated to describe geo-location as that dangerous. But in the fact, anything (good or bad) can be done with that technology.In the society that Orwell describes in his book, every citizen is under constant surveillance by the authorities, mainly by telescreens. The people are constantly reminded of this by the slogan "Big Brother is watching you": a maxim which is ubiquitously on display. but theoretically the fact that we are using smartphones and have them close wherever we go can be considered as an obstacle of our privacy.
 "Big Brother is watching you"- that slogan gave goosebumps to all the readers- but now, geo-location is also watching us, and it could be a good or bad thing...

Personalized medicine: tailored treatments

Personalized medicine

No two forms of cancer are the same – and not only because the disease can affect different organs. There are also different forms of liver cancer. Certain characteristics can vary from patient to patient. Researchers are developing medical tests for uncovering these differences. Blood and tissue samples are examined and genetic information collected in order to determine specific characteristics of the cancer. On the basis of this information it is then possible to treat patients with a specific drug that perfectly 'matches' the individual disease. This form of targeted treatment based on a previous diagnosis is called personalized medicine.

Bayer is engaged in the field of personalized medicine with the aim of developing targeted treatment options for patients.

https://pharma.bayer.com/en/research-and-development/research-focus/oncology/personalized-medicine/index.php

Stop Trying to Replace What Exists...Create Something New

Are smart watches the only thing that tech companies care about when in comes to wearable technology? Are they exploring other avenues or focusing all their energy and money in an already over saturated market?

With so many companies vying for the best smart watch in the industry, consumers are being overwhelmed and bombarded with options. I think its time for these companies to put the smart watches down and venture and explore other areas of wearable and even printable technology that the average consumer would find value in.

Some companies are taking heed and spending their research and development dollars in a more viable market. IDTechEx will be hosting an annual event on the the topic of printed electronics in San Jose, California this month. At the event their be companies such as Qualcomm who will be showing of their "printed electronics label that will gather data from a golf club to deliver feedback on a player’s game to his smartphone." Another company, Blue Spark Technologies, will showcase a "child’s bandage that can deliver temperature information to a parent’s handset." While "another company will show a vest that uses printed electronics to send information about a baby’s respiration and sleep." All these companies and the many more that will be at the event are exploring new ways to use printed and wearable electronics. These new innovations will bring more value to a consumers life than adding another smart phone to the already overly saturated smart watch industry.

Rest Devices' MIMO uses printed electronics to monitor sleep and respiration.

What do you think about wearable or printed electronics? Do you think that companies should continue to vie for market share of the smart watch industry or should they should focus their research and development dollars else were? Do you have any areas that you think companies should make either a wearable or printable technology for?

Source

Big Data Analytics

Business's are always looking for an advantage over the competition.  Advantages such as marketing strategies, reinventing their products, or faster distribution for products.  All of these advantage are good to have, but there is one they should look into.  That advantage is ,big data analytics.  Big data analytics is a process that collects, organizes, and analyzes large sets of data, to discover patterns and other useful information.  The information discovered from big data analytics, can and will gives business's a advantage.

            Big data analytics can and is being used in different fields.  For example hospitals are using them to better help patients.  Doctors are able to take a patients entire medical history and input the data, so they can see if the patient has any reoccurring medical issues come up.  There has also been great advancements in data analytics, to where it can decode human DNA in minutes.  With this advancement, doctors will be able to better predict any complications at patient could potentially have, and prevent them from happening.

            A business would also benefit from using big data analytics as well.  With big data analytics business's can boost sales, increase efficiency, and improve operations.  Just like hospitals, business's will be able to see patterns as well.  For example a product may not be doing well and there is no obvious reason why.  Big data analytics can show what is going on with the product.  Sometimes we are not able to catch things when they are spread apart, but when they are grouped together they can easily be seen and recognized.

            I believe that big data analytics will become used by everyone in the near future.  There is so much for this technology to offer.  With a technology like this that can collect, organize, and process data, it makes it so much easier for companies, business's, and hospitals to look at information.  With data analytics is processes this information faster then we could, which will allow anyone who uses it faster results.  To conclude I want to leave this question.  Do you think that big data analytics will become a must have for business's and hospitals?

Big Data Analytics
Big Data Analytics (what it is and why it matters)

Advanced Robotics

In this video is a great example of self balancing technology in one of Boston Dynamics prototypes.
They have this robot and several others modeled after the movement of a few different types of animals. To give you an idea of the athleticism of some of these bots, their fastest prototype can run up to 28 mph. Which is very impressive given how relatively new the construction of this technology is. In the next couple years you can expect a lot of new designs in this field of engineering with the speed of growing technology contributing to this ever evolving industry.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/M8YjvHYbZ9w" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>


Could you imagine riding one?!

Wearable Technology…Is It Taking Over?

 How do you feel about the craze for wearable technology? Do you love it or do you hate it? Do you want one of everything or do you want nothing to do with this new fad?

Photo: Shutterstock

Wearable technology has created a buzz in both the technology and fashion world and has been deemed as a game changer. It has become an every day part of many peoples lives, something they would not leave the house without. As technology is advancing the things that wearables can do is also expanding: things such as keep us fit, enhance how we spend our time, and make us aware about our happenings and the happenings of the world around us.

5 Categories of Wearables:

1.     Fitness

2.     Medical

3.     Lifestyle

4.     Gaming

5.     Infotainment

As the world of wearables is increasing and more and more of the public are engaging in and wearing technology, marketers are starting to take notice. They see wearable technology as a new way to learn more about their markets life style, habits, and interests. This gives them the ability to more closely personalize advertisements on Google Glass or to create offline touch points that meet the customers needs and wants. Health and fitness apps will be able to suggest paid solutions to wears of their wristbands health and fitness needs, all because they have been able to track and study the consumers behavior patterns. Brands will be able to have modified advice, offers, and services to their customers based on their lifestyle and goals. We already see this with the healthcare industry. Some insurance companies will give you a discount based on if you can reach a certain amount of steps per day on your Fit Bit, a smart wristband that monitors your activity. Many other industries are taking the steps to monitor and use the information that these wearable technology devices can gather, without the wear even knowing they are being monitored.

How do you feel about marketers monitoring you through wearable technology? Do you think you would be ok with them monitoring you if it meant they were better able to fit your needs and wants?

Source

Augmented Reality: Dead or Alive?

Augmented Reality seems like a concept that could change the way we live our day to day lives, doesn’t it? The concept of being able to put texts, pictures, and other objects normally found only online into the real world seems to have a plethora of potential uses and, more importantly, the potential to bring great profit to the companies that can take advantage while the technology is still in its developing infancy. However, Howard Ogden of TechCrunch takes the stance that this period of growth has already come and is now on its way out, with the concept of Augmented Reality passing the average person by.

                                               Photo by Business Week

                Augmented Reality saw its biggest growth to date back at the end of the first decade of the 21st Century, with companies such as Wikitude, Layar, and Junaio coming into being circa 2009. These companies act as the sort of Google or Bing of the Augmented Reality world, allowing users to search for the media that they want transposed onto the real world. However, the problems with Augmented Reality came about in the beginning of this decade, around 2011, when these companies felt as though the greatest profit margin would be not with the individual user, but with large corporations. They pigeonholed themselves into a market of providing a marketing and printing service to these large companies, and completely overlooked the burgeoning market for Augmented Reality accessible to the common man.

                Another issue that the Augmented Reality companies that currently exist face is that they are all remarkably similar in layout and use, as well as from a technical abilities standpoint. Ogden holds that this can work in a large, public market such as the one that companies like Google, Bing, and Yahoo survive in, but in a small market such as the one that these companies are currently in, every company has to fight just to keep itself afloat.

                In an attempt to fend off the expected decrease in profitability, the companies that are currently in the industry are attempting to sell their service to companies in increasingly less industrialized countries, mostly third world nations. The hope here is that the companies can continue to seem up to date and sell their service at a profit without needing to invest in the technology any further, but in the long run this will prove to be only a stall tactic, as eventually even in third world countries the Augmented Reality services will become but commodities amongst large corporations. Currently, almost no companies are looking to bring the Augmented Reality technologies being employed at this level to a more personal system.

                So the question we are left with is this: does Augmented Reality have one foot in the grave, or is it a technology that has yet to ripen?