Early reports this morning point to a large-scale failure of the internet due to damaged cables in the Mediterranean ocean.
Access in Asia, Africa and the Middle East are currently the regions of the world without access. India is reporting its bandwidth has been cut in half.
This shows the weakness of patching legacy communication tools. Redundant cables anyone?
BMW has once again integrated Apple technology.
Although announced months ago BMW has recently posted details online. To date iPhones are compatible with the 2007 line of vehicles. Its another look at BMW and Apple, two of the most known brands working to provide a seamless integration of their respective products.
BMW was the first vehicle manufacturer to integrate the iPod in 2004. Expect additional auto manufacturers to follow their lead.
You’ve read Freakonomics…right? One of the most popular chapters Why Do Drug Dealers Still Live With Their Moms? is about Sudhir Venkatesh, a grad student at the University of Chicago who studied a crack cocaine gang The Black Kings in Chicago’s Robert Taylor Homes (Building #4040) during the height of the crack epidemic in the 1990s. I wanted to learn more about Sudhir. His book Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets is now available.
I recall my own orientation at the University of Chicago was exactly like Sudhir’s story — being warned by police where NOT to walk around campus and when. The tragic killing of a grad student last Friday, (January 25th) is such an example of the danger facing faculty, students and staff members.
My daily commute from Glenview via Metra to Citigroup Center, then to the Midway Plaisance (map via Google) via the University’s charter bus service passed the Washington Park Lagoon everyday. Sudhir mentions his exploration of the Lagoon and lessons learned from speaking with older black men about Chicago and its history. Sudhir allows readers to see another side of America.
BMW is working to create an Open Source based telematic systems with Connexis and WirelessCar. Telematics is the hot term for telecommunication & informatics. This project will permit BMW to update services to a vehicle without requiring additional equipment purchases. In a previous blog posting I suggested BMW was supporting IPv6 technologies and the telematics projects is a natural advantage for IPv6.
Under development since 2003 BMW’s ConnectedDrive research vehicles can communicate to one another exchanging information on traffic, weather and road conditions directly from car to car by means of WirelessLAN communication technology.
David Weinberger’s book Everything Is Miscellaneous: The Power of the New Digital Disorder is really amazing. It follows on the footsteps of Tom Friedman’s The World Is Flat and Chris Anderson’s The Long Tail.
This book presents an interesting look at the digital data we have access to via the internet and how the distribution of data will forever change business, education and society.
What is the biggest change outlined by David Weinberger? The world’s data will be tagged and freely shared, all on the internet.
From the Dewey Decimal System to Flickr and everything in between … is now miscellaneous.