CircleCount helps you better understand Google+

2013-05-21 12:37:59 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 9 +1s)

\\Just as god intended.

>Parasitic wasps switch off the immune systems of fruit flies by draining calcium from the flies' blood cells, a finding that offers new insight into how pathogens break through a host's defenses. Researchers say their findings have uncovered an important component of cellular immunity, one that parasites have learned to take advantage of.

2013-05-21 12:34:22 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 3 +1s)

#RaceAgainstTheMachine   #TechnologicalUnemployment .#Watson.

>According to IBM, close to two-thirds of the 135 billion unresolved calls each year could have been resolved with better access to information, the search for which consumes six to eight minutes per call, on average. At each of the companies testing out Watson, the computer will be fed loads of product information from closely held databases such as catalogs, training manuals, product disclosures, terms and conditions, emails, customer forums, and call center logs, as well as publicly available feeds and reviews from places like Amazon, Yelp, Trip Advisor and technical support communities. In IBM’s tests using its own call centers and proprietary data, Watson delivered a 40% reduction in search time for information. “Watson pulls up stuff that an agent wouldn’t because it is looking for semantic links, not just doingtext-m... more »

2013-05-21 12:08:22 (11 comments, 1 reshares, 5 +1s)

Innovation!

2013-05-21 12:06:47 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 0 +1s)

#health   #hope   #ScienceDeliversTheGoods . 

>A multitasking microchip that can test blood samples for diseases including malaria and sleeping sickness has been launched in Singapore.

2013-05-21 12:06:04 (6 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

#glass   #paranoia . 

\\Haters be hating.

>No, the biggest obstacle is the smugness of people who wear Glass—and the deep discomfort of everyone who doesn't.

>For a year now Google employees and celebrities have been allowed to wear Glass. But when I ran into a Google employee wearing it in public and had a conversation with her, the interaction was screamingly uncomfortable.

>There she was, wearing this creepy-looking, faux-futuristic forehead band—with a built-in video camera pointed at my face. For all I knew, it was recording me. (A little “recording” light is supposed to come on when Glass is recording. But this Googler was wearing an engineering sample, not the finished product. Besides, it'll probably take about a day for someone to come up with a recording app that doesn't activate the light.)

2013-05-21 03:01:13 (2 comments, 1 reshares, 5 +1s)

What is this... a game for ants!?! 0_o

#swarm #glass.

2013-05-21 00:24:44 (3 comments, 3 reshares, 20 +1s)

2013-05-20 23:31:16 (3 comments, 1 reshares, 5 +1s)

Do salamanders hold the solution to regeneration?
[...]In research published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences researchers from the Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute (ARMI) at Monash University found that when immune cells known as macrophages were systemically removed, salamanders lost their ability to regenerate a limb and instead formed scar tissue.
Lead researcher, Dr James Godwin said the findings brought researchers a step closer to understanding what conditions were needed for regeneration. "Previously, we thought that macrophages were negative for regeneration, and this research shows that that's not the case - if the macrophages are not present in the early phases of healing, regeneration does not occur," Dr Godwin said. "Now, we need to find out exactly how these macrophages are contributing to regeneration. Down the road,... more »

2013-05-20 23:30:03 (3 comments, 3 reshares, 13 +1s)

I disagree, somewhat, vehemently, maybe, I dunno.

2013-05-20 17:23:30 (2 comments, 3 reshares, 2 +1s)

#Science #Technology   #health   #hope   #ScienceDeliversTheGoods .

>Now, Copeland has regained much of her autonomy thanks to a pair of bionic hands. The "i-limb ultra revolution" hands can cost as much as $120,000 a hand, and can be remotely set by an iPad application.

>Copeland's new hands allow her to pick up small items and brush her own hair, but she says that she is most excited about regaining the ability to cook vegetarian meals. Before the hands, Copeland was only able to prepare microwavable foods.

>"It just mimics so well a natural hand that it really just reminds me of before the accident, how I would have done things," Copeland told reporters. "I never thought I would actually be able to hold a knife and cut something. That's just incredible."

2013-05-20 17:17:23 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

2013-05-20 17:15:30 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 3 +1s)

#DriverlessCars   #Autocars   #hope   #abundance .

>"The most expensive thing from the Google self-driving car is the high resolution 3-D radar, so I was thinking how I could remove it," he told NBC News.

2013-05-20 17:13:01 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

Do you Wear?

2013-05-20 17:12:20 (2 comments, 2 reshares, 2 +1s)

\\Just as god intended.

>When all the humans went home for the day, a personal-assistant robot under development in a university lab recently built digital images of a pineapple and a bag of bagels that were inadvertently left on a table – and figured out how it could lift them. The researchers didn't even know the objects were in the room.

2013-05-20 17:08:42 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

#footwear   #energy   #hope   #abundance  .

2013-05-20 17:06:44 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

> I've been thinking about Ingress in terms of the following analogy:

Ingress : Warcraft II :: Swarm! : Starcraft

In particular, Warcraft and Ingress both have only two races, and the mechanics are mostly the same on both sides.
Starcraft was originally dismissed as "Warcraft in space". However, Starcraft's major innovation was to introduce multiple races that aren't just mirrors of each other, but represent fundamentally different gameplay dynamics. This was a sea change in RTS gaming, and we're hoping to do the same with Swarm and MMOARS. If you are the sort of person who doesn't move far from a central location, you'll do best with a nest worker caste, whereas if you tend to move around a lot you'll end up being a more efficient forager. The game as it is currently designed allows a variety of strategies and gaming styles that simply... more »

2013-05-20 15:25:02 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 0 +1s)

Here's why Vic couldn't sleep last night!  A fresh new Google+ Android build that incorporates all of last week's goodness... and more.   Enjoy.

#googleplusupdate

2013-05-20 12:34:20 (1 comments, 6 reshares, 18 +1s)

#goodmorning  

2013-05-20 12:25:58 (3 comments, 0 reshares, 4 +1s)

#goodmorning  .

2013-05-20 03:13:45 (1 comments, 2 reshares, 6 +1s)

#biology #energy #hope #abundance.

2013-05-20 03:07:15 (2 comments, 2 reshares, 3 +1s)

2013-05-20 02:49:32 (2 comments, 1 reshares, 3 +1s)

This is a document introducing the basics of the Google Glass app that +Daniel Estrada and I have been working on for the last few weeks.  It's called Swarm! and it is designed to be what we're calling a "Massively Multiplayer Online Augmented Reality Simulation" (MMOARS) game.  It is written in the style of a "game guide" that you might get when first installing the game.

We will be holding a Hangout on Google+ this Wednesday, May 22 at 9 PM Eastern to discuss the game, solicit ideas and feedback, and (potentially) recruit a few other people to work on it with us.  If you're interested, please flip through the document and/or show up to the Hangout and chat with us!  We're hoping to release the app for testing sometime in the next six months or so, and we'd love to hear your thoughts.

In Swarm! you play an individualant ... more »

2013-05-19 23:56:19 (2 comments, 1 reshares, 16 +1s)

方南町の桂家で中盛りチャーシューをごちそうさま。
二日続けてラーメン食べちゃったん…。
(´･_･`)

#ごちそうフォト
#autoawesome  

2013-05-19 23:55:50 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

I cant say how much I love this new auto-awesome photo feature. Google, you rock.

#autoawesome   #Cookies   #magic  

2013-05-19 23:54:08 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

My Test #AutoAwesome

2013-05-19 17:49:10 (15 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

So this is certainly Poison Ivy right?

2013-05-19 14:40:48 (9 comments, 1 reshares, 6 +1s)

#Bitcoin .

>U.S. authorities have seized the accounts of a Bitcoin digital currency exchange operator, claiming it was functioning as an "unlicensed money service business," court documents showed Friday. A warrant revealed by the Department of Homeland Security showed a judge signed the seizure order Tuesday for the accounts of Mutum Sigillum LCC, a subsidiary of Japan-based Mt. Gox, the world's biggest Bitcoin exchange. The warrant said the account based on the electronic payments platform Dwolla and held at Veridian Credit Union "was used to move money" as "part of an unlicensed money service" in violation of U.S. law.

2013-05-19 13:57:05 (2 comments, 1 reshares, 14 +1s)

2013-05-19 13:56:07 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 8 +1s)

Sticky, stinky vomit
Have a look at this video from How stuff works:
http://goo.gl/EhNno It's about Fulmar chicks. Their defense mechanism is to regurgitate an oily substance onto whatever target is within 5 ft. The sticky oil makes it difficult for predatory birds to fly. When they go to wash off the sticky oil, they can drown as the oil messes up their buoyancy too.

Image source and more details form Scientific American.
http://goo.gl/dnkAr

#ScienceSunday  

2013-05-19 00:47:48 (0 comments, 4 reshares, 7 +1s)

Got 40 minutes to kill?  Wanna find out what echopraxia is?

2013-05-18 20:39:39 (1 comments, 4 reshares, 11 +1s)

In a New York laboratory, a special group of mice is destined to outlive their cage-mates. Their muscles will stay strong for longer. Their brains will stay sharp for longer. When they eventually die, they will have seen more months than their peers.

The secret to their longevity isn’t a drug or a special diet. Instead, Dongsheng Cai from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine simply reduced the levels of a single protein called NF-kB in part of the brain called the hypothalamus. That was enough to extend their lives.

2013-05-18 20:17:31 (1 comments, 1 reshares, 10 +1s)

2013-05-18 20:16:42 (3 comments, 4 reshares, 20 +1s)

Created by: Mark Savary from http://www.autumnlake.com/

2013-05-18 17:33:49 (14 comments, 6 reshares, 11 +1s)

This has apparently been confirmed as a nasty anti-Google parody commercial created for internal consumption at Microsoft.  It demonstrates the depth of the hatred and disease that appears to have permeated the once great Microsoft culture.  It is simultaneously sad and sickening. // References: L.A. Times: http://j.mp/16w4eoN // Attack of the Google Snarkers: https://plus.google.com/114753028665775786510/posts/GH7qErHrfpX

2013-05-18 16:53:40 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 15 +1s)

2013-05-18 15:47:33 (0 comments, 5 reshares, 5 +1s)

#AugmentedReality   #futurism   #hope .

\\This is a great interview on a very interesting subject. The difference between virtual reality and augmented reality is quite clear - virtual reality takes away from actual reality, while augmented reality lets us enrich our daily experience, but at the same time still be able to interact with actual reality.

\\In particular, I love that he used the term "wearing" to describe the oncoming tech like #Glass , and that they then discussed Vinge's RAINBOWS END a bit.

>During my conversation with Ori Inbar we cover a variety of interesting topics such as: the story behind his passion and motivation for augmented reality; the past and the present definition of augmented reality; differences between augmented reality, virtual reality and real reality; major applications for AR; the dangers and costs of militarization;O... more »

2013-05-18 15:44:18 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

2013-05-18 15:43:16 (1 comments, 3 reshares, 5 +1s)

#Climate   #Science   #AGW . 

>This might be the least surprising finding of the week: Since 1991, roughly 97 percent of all published scientific papers that take an explicit position on the question agree that humans are warming the planet.

2013-05-18 15:41:44 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 9 +1s)

#goodmorning  .

2013-05-18 15:40:10 (11 comments, 9 reshares, 26 +1s)

"Moran Cerf is a neuroscientist who has shown how to project patients’ thoughts onto a screen in front of their eyes by implanting electrodes deep inside their brains and reading the activity of cells. Oh, and he used to rob banks."

2013-05-18 02:33:50 (3 comments, 1 reshares, 6 +1s)

+Daniel Estrada  and I have been working on a project called Swarm! for the last few weeks.  It's going to be an app for Google Glass (and, eventually, other platforms as well) that will hopefully be coming out some time in the next six months.  We're calling it an MMOARG application: a massively multi-player augmented reality game, and it will be among the first of its kind.  It is designed to be a fusion of a very fun game (we're both excited to actually start playing it), a social experiment, and a forerunner to some of the later development we want to do with the   #AttentionEconomy   stuff through augmented reality.

We've got a fairly comprehensive document discussing the motivation and mechanics of the game at this point.  We're putting the finishing touches on it, and will post the document for review tomorrow or Sunday.  After that, we'd like tohost a ... more »

2013-05-18 01:53:58 (1 comments, 1 reshares, 13 +1s)

#goodevening  .

2013-05-18 01:51:49 (4 comments, 0 reshares, 10 +1s)

I have been reading and hearing about Larry Page's talk at IO, and I have been waiting for a good time to sit down and absorb it for myself. I was just able to do that.

Absolutely moving. I don't know if it was intentional to have the image of the rotating Earth in the background, but that coupled with the absolutely hopefully words just made me so glad that we have such a man in charge of one of the world's most powerful companies. We really are capable of so much, this really is just the beginning... and sadly it really isn't coming fast enough. But every day we can change that.

This is the sort of thing that gives me motivation, and inspires me to keep my eye on this shared prize we all have waiting for us. It is up to us to spread the good news, and to keep striving for the better future that Science and Technology can bring.

2013-05-17 23:54:21 (3 comments, 0 reshares, 10 +1s)

Number of people killed in the U.S. by terrorists since 9/11: 4
Number of people killed by guns in the U.S. since 9/11: >300,000

2013-05-17 23:22:27 (0 comments, 2 reshares, 10 +1s)

Attack of the Google Snarkers

I hadn't planned on writing anything about this, but watching the continuing stream of obnoxious snarking -- both in blogs and some mainstream media -- following Larry Page's appearance at the end of Wednesday's Google I/O keynote, my irritation level has risen to the point where some comment seems apropos.

Let's get the disclaimer out of the way.  I've never met Larry. I am currently consulting to Google. Everything I say here represents my thoughts only, and any blame for them should be attributed to me alone.  OK, let's move on.

Regular readers know that I am not a fan of snark in general.  In fact, snarky comments are one of the easiest ways to get bounced from my Google+ threads.  As far as I'm concerned, they're almost always cheap shots aimed at minimizing real issues, to try get a quickgee... more »

2013-05-17 20:14:45 (1 comments, 1 reshares, 8 +1s)

Oh, and by the way Mad Brew, tell A. Ron to stop complaining about G+'s unfriendly profile strings.... instead, he should recommend just searching for +The Night's Watch.

2013-05-17 20:10:06 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

#ClimateScience   #Science   #AGW .

>A recent study reviewed the published literature and talked to climate scientists about whether human activities are driving climate change. Their results indicate a general consensus in the scientific community:

2013-05-17 19:52:20 (3 comments, 1 reshares, 2 +1s)

Yeah right. #gameofthrones CC: +The Night's Watch. 

2013-05-17 19:44:50 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 6 +1s)

Just as god intended.

>Almost two decades ago, scientists succeeded in cloning Dolly the sheep. Now, the same process has been allowed scientists to clone embryonic stem cells from fetal human skin cells for the very first time. There are no more barriers between us and creating human clones.

2013-05-17 13:36:38 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

#RaceAgainstTheMachine   #TechnologicalUnemployment   #hope   #health .

>A new wave of apps and devices make it possible to check most of your vitals with just what you carry around in your pocket all day.

>The consumerization of basic medical technology--from devices that take your pulse and glucose levels to gadgets that check for abnormal heart rhythms--could have profound consequences for healthcare. If we’re able to monitor our vital signs, we may not need doctors for check-ups. And, doctors could have more data to draw on when we do need them. Sensors might help diagnose disease and other problems earlier. And, they could allow us to have a better idea of what activities are good for us--and which aren’t. All the information you need will be right there on your smartphone.