I've heard this phrase spouted in so many presentations over the last few years, and it reality it seemed to have a shallow, empty sound in reality. Not anymore. Now I see one site that puts this service in the cloud and allows, real feeds of data - both in/out of the service. I'm working at researching the concept some more, becuase it intersects with my work in sensors, arduino, smartgeometry, ubimash, graphic display of realtime data, social...

The Golden-i device was launched this week, and it's getting picked up on the NBC News channels today and tomorrow. Here's the details I got from Kopin. If you don't see this - you can come to the BE conference and try it live - in action in our Technology Futures Zone. NBC has decided to send out a Golden-i news story through 250 national affiliates . . . maybe you can catch it tonight on your local NBC channel . . . ? NBC Channel 10 Boston - Golden...

...not just anybody.... I love that old Beatles song, and it leads into my real life plea for assistance here. Of course, not just "anybody" will do. I need help from architects, engineers and individuals who have an interest in the Rapid Prototyping/Additive Manufacturing/3D Modeling and the 3D printing space. If you are using these technologies either in-house, or through one of the many service bureaus - or are considering these technologies;...

Blue States have no political allliance in this map. Previous I posted a link to a Google PowerMap of activity worldwide related to the SmartGrid implementations. This is another version of the idea, but it also contains more data related to the specific utilities and contains numbers related to the size of the project. On a State-by-State basis you can see what percentage of the State is covered by current and future SmartGrid activity. No surprise...

"Today there is all too often a disconnect, or performance gap, between the energy modeling done during the design phase and what actually happens during daily operation after the building is constructed." Scot Horst, Senior Vice President of LEED, U.S. Green Building Council. Late last month the U.S. Green Building Council announced that buildings seeking LEED certification will be required to provide performance data for energy and water...

In this corner Microsoft Hohm, and in the opposing corner Google Powermeter. Well Microsoft finally entered the consumer energy monitoring space. A few months ago, I discussed the entry of Google into the energy space with its product called Powermeter. Last week, Microsoft announced its entry into the game with Hohm. Hohm is an active beta product built on the Windows Azure cloud operating system. Hohm also uses Bing (the new Microsoft search engine...

What is a SmartGrid? And why should I care? It seems like everyone has their own definition of the term "Smartgrid" - and some don't like the word at all. At the Connectivty Week Conference earlier this month, I met many people - all with their own definitions and explanations. But one of the most complete definitions comes from Christine Hertzog and posted on the site for the SmartGrid Dictionary . There are many definitions for the Smart...

I got an alert to an interesting contest focused on using modern sensing technology (ZigBee) and building small models to demonstrate key ideas for Green Design. Want to see how a firehouse might conserve energy? Or track a railroad system? Or show how a solar farm might work? You can by visiting Digiville.You can check out these cost-saving, environmentally-themed wireless designs here.... Digiville solar energy farm Digiville railway system Digiville...

This is Green Week. Are you bored and think there isn't anything new to learn here. Flipping thru the TV Channels and nothing on TV. How about some interesting webcasts on your computer? I just discovered an interesting web site that will have a whole day of webcasts (April 22, 2009) on a variety of topics related to Green Week. Here are some of the topics... 8-8:45am PST Donald S. Simon of Wendel, Rosen, Black & Dean, LLP - "Governmental...

Relax, this isn't a commercial post on anything related to Bentley Geospatial products. This is about an interesting company that I discovered - Mind Time . They presented at the FIATECH conference last week. First ask yourself the question - Who am I? There are a collection of pyschometric tests that can help answer this question. Who hasn't taken a Myers-Briggs Test (ENTP here)? But now let me ask a harder question. Who are you as a "group"...

I see a lot of mobile and wireless devices from various sources, but this device will revolutionize the on-site computing paradigm in the construction market (and other markets as well). Computing power in a work environment is always complicated with trade-offs. Tablets become expensive and too heavy - and probably get left behind because of the weight and cumbersome handling. Handhelds and Smartphones seem like a better option, but trade-offs here...

Yes, even Microsoft has been hit with the downturn in the economy. Microsoft, like so many other companies, was forced to do an across the board layoff. But one area that was spared the knife - research. At TechFest 2009 - Craig Mundie made some thought provoking statements about the future products from Microsoft and his position on research. Now since Craig is Microsoft's chief research and strategy officer - you might expect him to champion investment...

At the end of last year, I had the pleasure of speaking with Laura Canning from Constructech Magazine. We discussed the work we just started on the RFID cookbook with FIATECH, NDSU and other team members. An interesting article on some of the applications and activity with RFID was just published in M2M magazine - a sister publication to Constructech. http://www.specialtypub.com/m2m/article.asp?article_id=7440 It's a nice article that just scratches...

My last post on Google and Energy generated some interest and a few comments. So I started looking up the areas I knew that were doing work with Smart Metering - mostly in Texas. I stumbled across this very interesting map that shows worldwide applications of Smart Metering - not just for electricity, but also gas and water. So checkout this Worldwide Smart Metering Project Map and let me know what you think. It shows all sites that are in trial or...

Google is best known for its search engine strategy, and how they reinvented the search market. Now Google has entered the energy space. And they might just reinvent the energy ecosystem. Google wants to be in your home, watching the energy on all your devices - refrigerators, dish washers, the always-running TV, computers, anything you want to monitor. And then after it collects all this junk - well you know Google, they save everything. Soon you...

Get your 3D glasses ready for the Super Bowl. Checkout the details at this site . The 2009 Super Bowl commerical lineup will include a 3D ad sponsored by Pepsi. The technology uses a new technique from Intel called InTru 3D and ColorCode 3-D. it supposedly improves the visual display and eliminates the headaches caused by those old analglyphic red/blue glasses techniques. Where do you get these glasses? Almost all supermarkets that have the SoBe display...

There is an interesting post on the use of video analytics with IP based cameras in this blog Physical Security Technology in the Bentley community. What the author might not know is that we have integrated video cameras...and sensors and RFID into ProjectWise in a seemless fashion. here at Bentley in our research labs. Without changing the base architecture of these systems, we have created linked models that allow geospatial positioning of the nodes...

One of the surprising trends in the computing space has been the surge of low cost netbook computers. The trend toward these small laptops began with Microsoft's release of the Ultra Mobile PC or UMPC. These were priced around $800 to $1200. Small in size, but not in price. Then several companies started releasing small notebook computers running Linux with a full set of applications loaded on the device. New price points of sub-$400 became the norm...

It's been a while now since I did a podcast interview with my friends at eWeek on China and RFID . The podcast is still available under their Baseline publication and you can follow the link above to hear it. The time frame was mid-2006 and most of the world was buzzing about standardization on the RFID chip called "Gen 2". It reached a rapid acceptance around the world in most regions - except for China. China was concerned about 2 things...

Bob Wibel writes an interesting response to an article from Thomas Freedman in the New York Times concerning President Obama's proposed stimulus package for infrastructure projects. Bob has been a vocal champion for streamlining the regulatory process. through the FIATECH Streamlining /Alliance Project. You need to read the details in his interesting article in ENR News on the need to upgrade our state and local government processes of regulatory...

Today is an historical day by many accounts. But after all the celebration, all the speeches, all the balls, and all the promises and visions - the real work will begin. Obama has promised and hinted at some type of stimulus package for the infrastructure of our nation. Of course, he'll also be challenged by the financial community - again, the auto industry, education, and almost every niche of the economy. It is estimated that over 770,000 construction...

Your read that right. For $299 you get an email device and wireless email and texting for life. You can find this on the Peek device (one of my tech toys for Christmas). Did I tell you it includes the device itself -which is normally $99. Here is the link and supposedly it is a one day only sale. https://www.getpeek.com/Peek/purchase.htm Some points to consider - this is not an Exchange server type model. It works with most public email systems like...

Tech Toy #10 - Can Touch This - The HP Touch Smart This year was the beginning of the wave of new interfaces on devices. Many top lists put the iPodTouch on top this year. And of course the iPhone has caused a rush of me-too touch screen look-a-likes in the cell phone space. And the Microsoft Surface Table - the ultimate gather around touch screen device that was available only to Hotels, Casinos and Cell phone stores (ATT) - finally became available...

Tech Toy #9 - TikiTag Reader and Tags Wired Magazine called this one of the Geeky Toys that will make you a Hero. This is really an RFID desktop HF Reader with sample tags. So what! Well with little to no programming skill, you can tag an object and define a link to a website, a skype call, an online internet radio station and more. If you have an NFC phone like the Nokia 6131, you can also read the RFID tags with the phone and navigate to a URL....

Tech Toy #8 - Finding Your Lost Sled, or Car, or Van... It's easy for Santa to find his sled, he just picks an open spot on the rooftop. But dazed shoppers after a long day of shopping, come out to a lot and just see row-after-row of cars. Now unless you remember that your parked in the Green aisle, in section ZX493 - you're lost. Or rather your car is lost, you know where you are. So if you have a remote lock you wander around beeping trying to find...