Since 2003, the number of hydrogen fuel-cell buses in the German city of Hamburg has grown from a single prototype to three dozen. The Mercedes-Benz Citaro fuel-cell buses have logged more than 2 million kilometers over the past eight years and data from the buses has allowed the manufacturer to improve the fuel-efficiency of theRead… Read more »
Creative Commons via tvtropes.org Recently, I have been reflecting a lot on my motivations for engaging in certain areas of my life. The basic question comes down to this: Why do we do the things that we do? Sometimes we start certain projects, initiatives or relationships because we are passionate about the goal, outcome orRead… Read more »
With the ubiquity of Big Data, Apache Hadoop has become a vital platform for cost-effective, reliable, scalable distributed computing to store and analyze hundreds of gigabytes of complex information. Since the Hadoop ecosystem is open source, it is supported with a growing community of professionals. However, it is a platform in growing demand which meansRead… Read more »
If you’ve been reading this blog since its early days, you know I’m a big supporter of the use of virtual worlds and 3D immersive spaces. Although I realize these technologies are not yet mainstream or even well accepted or understood, my experience with them has been tremendously positive. They have quite simply changed myRead… Read more »
Day 15 GIS Maps Yesterday at the very end of the day, our IT staff added a link on our Intranet site to the web map we had created. This is an online map of our GIS information that’s accessed through a browser. Unfortunately we still haven’t been able to make the web map inRead… Read more »
What is Whyday? It’s a day dedicated to Why the Lucky Stiff, a programming hero of mine. He created Why’s Poignant Guide to Ruby, which served as my introduction to the Ruby programming language. He’s also authored a massive collection of open-source projects, including Camping, a small web framework; Markaby, a pure-Ruby templating language; andRead… Read more »
I’m confident that somewhere in Canada, some resource strapped innovative small town has abandoned desktop software and uses a cloud based service but so far no city of any real size has even publicly said they were considering the possibility. That is, until today. Looks like Edmonton’s IT group – which is not just oneRead… Read more »
We’re glad to share this job announcement from Joshua Breitbart of the New America Foundation: The New America Foundation’s Open Technology Initiative seeks a Technologist to join our team in Washington, D.C., building a new device-as-infrastructure communications tool for democratic organizing, civil society, and free speech in the 21st century. http://newamerica.net/node/56265 Original post
Things which caught my eye elsewhere on the web USENIX 2011 Keynote: Network Security in the Medium Term, 2061-2561 AD – Charlie’s Diary It’s nearly impossible to underestimate the political significance of information security on the internet of the future. Rather than our credentials and secrets being at risk – our credit card accounts andRead… Read more »
MTA Long Island Rail Road (NY) launched a pilot program to allow customers to purchase tickets on board trains using major credit and debit cards. Conductors are equipped with wireless handheld ticket issuing machines, called TIMs, which can process cash and credit transactions and print a receipt. “We live in a time that is moreRead… Read more »