Topic: Computer Hardware
Hardware has not seen the same level of innovation and variety that software has, due to the high costs of manufacturing and distribution. In this presentation from the Emerging Communications Conference, Jeremy Toeman, Head of Marketing at Bug Labs discusses the emerging open source hardware movement and how it will impact the $10 billion consumer electronics industry.
The economic realities of hardware development often stifle innovation. Peter Semmelhack, CEO of Bug Labs, discusses a change in approach, similar to the open source software model, that will promote innovation in the hardware space. Based on the Lego model, Bug Labs is creating a set of tools they believe will eliminate some of the cost and creative prohibitions, and enable a community of users and developers to experiment with the creation of new gadgets.
If you think that Sun Microsystems is that Java company, then you've a lot of news to catch up on. Charles Nutter, co-lead on the JRuby project at Sun, gives a quick round-up of a plethora of initiatives that Sun is working on, for the individual open source developer and the little start-up guy, besides bringing Ruby to the enterprise.
Wouldn't it be amazing if you could hold a "book" in your hands which had hyperlinks? Why would that be amazing, you ask? Well, what if the hyperlink triggered a process that makes a nearby computer, for example, play an MP3 of animal sounds that match the story? In this keynote presentation from the 2007 O'Reilly Tools of Change for Publishing conference, Manolis Kelaidis introduces blueBook, his prototype that merges the analog and digital worlds of books.
More than 1000 used computers will gain new life at Installfest at LinuxWorld, where volunteers will install new Linux and open source software over four days. The refurbished computers are donated to needy schools. Andrew Fife explains how it works, and how you can help this effort.
Puppet is an automated administrative engine for systems, performs administrative tasks (such as adding users, installing packages, and updating server configurations) based on a centralized specification. Luke Kanies, who founded Reductive Labs, has been doing server automation for years, and Puppet is the result of his frustration with existing tools. He joins Phil, Scott, and Ben to discuss it.
In this talk at the Emerging Communications Conference, Rich Miner, manager of the Wireless Platforms group at Google discusses the ways that increasing openness will bring an explosion of innovation in the mobile industry. Carriers, manufacturers, and software companies are beginning to open up the networks, technology, and business models, all of which is opening up new opportunities for entrepreneurship and services for consumers.
Greg Wilson recently gave a talk entitled High-Performance Computing Considered Harmful. On this edition of Interviews with Innovators, Wilson explains why HPC can't be all about speed and power. Instead, we must also care, more than we have in the past, about human productivity, correctness, and reproducibility.
An esteemed and historic group of Internet professionals debates a compelling question: "Does the Net Need an Upgrade?" For some the answer seems elusive. What does it mean to upgrade something when it is in a constant state of change? For others, there are clear signals that strike at the root of the question and potentially deflowers it as worthy of debate. During the session the experts share their thoughts and examine pressing issues for everyone using the Internet.
In its short history, the Nintendo Wii has become one of the most popular game consoles available. In particular, its remote controller is sophisticated, containing a number of input devices that outperform regular personal computers. Johnny Lee, a graduate student at Carnegie Mellon University is working on a number of exciting projects with the controller. He joins Phil and Scott to discuss his applications, including his video demonstrations available on YouTube.
