Posts

Energy savings from 3D printing

3D printing is coming into its own as an integral part of manufacturing.  That's the view of Jack Hornick, an intellectual property attorney and author of  3D Printing Will Rock the World ,   a suggested textbook for "The 3D Printing Revolution" Coursera course offered by the University of Illinois Champagne-Urbana. I spoke with him about the energy saving potential of 3D printing. Read more in  3 Ways that 3D Printing Saves Energy

Do you speak realtor?

Image
Every industry has its own lingo, and that extends to the language employed by realtors.  The descriptions of homes for sale or rent are written in encoded terms specific to the real estate industry. As with any foreign language, the key to understanding those who speak it is to learn the vocabulary. The majority of homes on the MLS (Multiple Listing Service) are labelled "excellent.” Many others are called “very good,” a smaller number merely “good,” while a a few are distinguished as “mint” or “diamond.” When you look at the listings online, you may find that the accompanying photographs of some of the houses do not look as flattering as the descriptive terms. That's your first clue that there is a difference between what the word means in English and in realtor-speak. Say you decide to check out of the houses described as "excellent." Once you arrive, you are likely to notice that the windows are the ones that were put in the house when built – about 60 yea

An Idiot's guide for writers

Image
I got this email today: For more than twenty years, our Idiot’s Guides books have been teaching people how to do everything from balancing your checkbook to raising bees. But now, we are starting a whole new revolution online - and we want you to be a part of it! Questions. We know you’ve got ‘em. Here’s the low-down, Q&A style. What’s the short story? We wanted to create a global community online where anyone can come to teach what they know, or learn what they don’t.  Enter idiotsguides.com , our brand-spankin’ new site that is a global community where anyone can post a how-to article (called “Quick Guides”) on any subject they’d like! What does this have to do with me? You’re awesome. We already know that by following your blog! We’d love for you to share your awesomeness with us by joining our community and contributing to idiotsguides.com ! Hm. Ok...what’s in it for me?  (It’s ok to ask, we know you want to!) Exposure (the good kind): Your contributions will be seen by the

Optimizing the mobile experience

Mindful of the increasing number of its customers who access its site through smartphones, Simplyhealth enhanced its mobile application delivery. As a major health-cash-plan provider that serves nearly 3.5 million customers in the United Kingdom,  Simplyhealth  has to keep track of the pulse of its customer base in order to meet their needs effectively. Knowing that about 40 percent of its Web traffic comes through mobile devices, the organization has to ensure that its content works on a range of different units. In the past, Simplyhealth underwent a lot of time-consuming testing that didn't accurately replicate the user experience. Determined to forestall any possible glitches in its mobile service, the organization started looking for a solution in 2013. - See more at: http://www.baselinemag.com/mobility/testing-responsive-design-on-mobile-devices.html#sthash.qjHcgp3u.dpuf

Don't you recognize my voice?

Image
What's your mother's maiden name?  Which street did you live on when you were growing up?  What's the name of your first pet?  In what city was your parent born? Sound familiar? These are standard identity authentication questions that all have to be answered before you get to bring up what you really called about. Certainly, we want measures of security, though it is possible to authenticate the caller other ways. Voice biometrics is becoming increasingly popular. It's not a complete solution on its own, as all security experts insist single-step authentication are not secure enough for anything you really wish to protect. But it offers the advantage of convenience and likely better security than questions whose answers can often be obtained with some online searches and a view of your Facebook profile. Read more in   Securely Yours: Voice Biometric Authentication Gains Traction Related:  Detecting Fraud With Voice Analytics

Data for better job matches

Image
How do you know that a new hire will work out? Even a perfect resume doesn’t guarantee it because there are many other factors that determine if an individual will be happy and productive at a particular organization. That’s the premise of job matching startup called  Ideal.com . It takes in a lot more data from both employee and employer to predict compatibility for sales positions. Credit: iStock If that sounds rather like online dating, it should, because that's the model that Somen Mondal, Ideal.com’s CEO, invokes. I spoke to him on the phone about how his approach works. He also revealed what made him realize that there is a need for a better way to match candidates with companies. Read more in  Data-Driven Hiring Takes Command

Writing for free is not tax deductible

Image
Recently I brought down my auto insurance premium significantly and wanted to find  a media outlet that was a good fit for the topic and that would pay me for writing about it. In the course of hunting around for sites of that sort and came across one that said it does want guest bloggers. But the pay is so low, it recommends you can consider the writing a donation. Here's the exact wording : Small fee of $20 per post.  If you normally charge more, ask your accountant if the rest of your fee is considered a donation. We'll be happy to send you our 501c3 letter.  Please also let us know if you would just like to donate the full amount, and not receive payment. This is not just laughable but dangerous. In my eyes, the site lost all credibility if the editors actually believe what they're saying or are low enough to deliberately lure people into doing work for free or for far less than they deserve because they can gain a tax advantage. I do volunteer work regularly.

The post that got the most comments

Image
That's the most comments to date of any single blog on that site, already topping 145. Like much of the tech featured in the original  Star Trek  and other futuristic shows, communicating with a computer directly through speech has long been a reality via an interface dominated by Nuance, the company behind the virtual assistant female voice many hear on their smartphones and computers. But Google is upping the game with software that promises to deliver more than its competition does now and down the road. See more in  Google Cloud Speech API: A Step Forward for Voice Activation