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Location, location, location moves to the cloud

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Location, location, location. That's the answer always offered for the three key components of real estate. When it comes to managing information on the business end, the same formula for success calls for a SaaS solution that allows information from all other sources -- lead generation, CRM, website activity, and mobile apps -- to come together to yield optimum insight and predictive analytics. Read more in  Case Study: SaaS for Home Sales

From the army to the big city, 3D printing can be a real game changer

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3D printing has great practical potential for the supply chain, as shown by the US army. Jerry Castanos saw its military application on his tour of duty in Afghanistan. That inspired him to open his own 3D printing business in New York City,  3D Heights , which offers 3D printers, related accessories, and lessons in using them. His goal is to be "the first" successful 3D printing retail store in the city. I spoke to about the confluence of his army experience with supply chain management and the uses for 3D printing. Car with 3D printed metal body photographed by Ariella Brown at the Javits Center Read more in Army to Big City: 3D Printing Reshapes the Supply Chain

A soft sell for sensors

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Wearables go where no devices have gone before when designed to fit wherever one wants them on  the body.   Fitting the device to the body, rather than the body to the device: that’s what defines the technology developed by MC10.  This privately held company partners with well-known brands, like Reebok, to bring its technology into the consumer space.  I spoke with Elyse Winer,   Manager of Marketing & Communications at MC10 about the company’s innovative products. Read about it in   A Soft Sell for Sensors

How to manage editors, Russell Baker style

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In   Making Masterpiece: 25 Years Behind the Scenes at Masterpiece Theatre and Mystery!      (p.129),   Rebecca Eaton includes a facsimile of a note on New York Times stationery that  Russell Baker wrote to her regarding his scripts for introducing Masterpiece Theatre  on January 10, 1997. It says: Dear Rebecca  _ These can be cut, sliced, pared, slashed, canned, pruned, trimmed, condensed, abridged, curtailed or sheared, if you want me never to speak to you again. Yrs Russell [Note: Baker didn't use the Oxford comma, so there's something for those who oppose it to point to.]

The quantified swoon, or how readers fall for Mr. Darcy

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Personally, I've never had a crush on Mr. Darcy -- in book or film form. But I see I'm very much in the minority here. You just can't argue with data.  I wrote about the kind of data Oyster Books and similar services pick up on their readers a little while back in  Reading & Being Read by E-Books Now Oyster is sharing its data to track readers' fascination with Mr. Darcy. Here's the infographic that was shared by Huffington Post: Related posts:  http://uncommoncontent.blogspot.com/2013/06/jane-austens-heroines-from-extroverted.html http://uncommoncontent.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-big-bow-wow-bit-of-ivory.html

When seconds can mean the difference between life and death

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MARVLIS presents geographic and EMS call data plotted on a map Though we tend to equate being predictable with being boring, in the case of optimizing emergency response, it is actually a virtue. n emergency situations, response time can make the difference between life and death.  Since it deployed the Mobile Area Routing and Vehicle Location Information System (MARVLIS) in 2008,  Jersey City Medical Center EMS  says it has better-than-average response times and markedly improved survival rates. MARVLIS combines geographic information system technology, wireless communications, and a global positioning system to produce real-time information that enables emergency response teams to get to their dest inations faster. Read more in Analytics Speed Up Response Times for EMS

Highly detailed 3D printing in NY

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Photo from Mini 3D Me There are only four of these 3D printing systems in the world, with two of them in the United States. That one of those two should be in New York is not remarkable. But the fact that it is not in the Big Apple itself, but in Westchester County is somewhat surprising. How did the combination of a  Pro Jet 660 3D printer  and  Artec scanner , which combined carry a 6-figure price tag, end up in Yorktown?  Find out in  Advanced 3D Printing in New York

More efficient recycling with 3D printing

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We generate so much plastic waste today that it has become a serious environmental problem. Some of us do put aside our plastic bottles for recycling, but even that endeavour requires energy consumption just to get the plastic to a recycling centre. Even more energy is needed for the actual recycling. There is a better way to reuse the plastic, and 3D printing makes it possible. Read more in 3D Printing Plastic — Distributed Recyling and Distributing the Benefits Joshua Pearce holds a DremelFuge chuck made from shredded plastic milk jugs.