Another bit of a catch up …
How many Americans will be using an iPhone when the US smartphone market saturates?: As previously noted, the US smartphone market has followed an almost perfectly logistic growth. The measured data (via comScore, in green below) follows a predictive logistic function (thin blue whose formula is discussed here). – by Horace Dediu – http://www.asymco.com/2013/12/13/how-many-americans-will-be-using-an-iphone/
Today In Dystopian War Robots That Will Harvest Us For Our Organs: You’re in luck today, true believers! We have four exciting robots that will eventually enslave and/or eat us. – by JOHN BIGGS – http://techcrunch.com/2013/12/13/today-in-dystopian-war-robots-that-will-harvest-us-for-our-organs-9/
An Introvert’s Guide to Better Presentations: I am an introvert and I have always feared public speaking, and despite having given an industry conference presentation every year for the last fourteen years, it’s only gotten marginally easier for me. – by Gene Driskell – https://medium.com/what-im-reading-on-medium/be7e772b2cb5
Google Adds to Its Menagerie of Robots: SAN FRANCISCO — BigDog, Cheetah, WildCat and Atlas have joined Google’s growing robot menagerie. Google confirmed on Friday that it had completed the acquisition of Boston Dynamics, an engineering company that has designed mobile research robots for the Pentagon. – by JOHN MARKOFF – http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/14/technology/google-adds-to-its-menagerie-of-robots.html
Facebook self-censorship : What happens to the posts you don’t publish?: A couple of months ago, a friend of mine asked on Facebook: Do you think that facebook tracks the stuff that people type and then erase before hitting ? (or the “post” button) Good question. We spend a lot of time thinking about what to post on Facebook. – by Jennifer Golbeck – http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2013/12/facebook_self_censorship_what_happens_to_the_posts_you_don_t_publish.single.html
Big Idea 2014: Predictions from PayPal: This post is part of a series in which LinkedIn Influencers pick one big idea that will shape 2014.See all the ideas here. Prediction lists are everywhere this time of year and they often have more to do with sounding clever than sharing insight. – http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20131211235041-356899-paypal-looks-ahead-six-predictions-for-2014
Why cab drivers should love Uber: Last month the city of New York raised more than $200 million by auctioning off 200 new taxi medallions — essentially, the right to operate a yellow cab in the city. – by Felix Salmon – Tags: economics – http://blogs.reuters.com/felix-salmon/2013/12/11/why-cab-drivers-should-love-uber/
John Doerr’s last stand: Can a dramatic shakeup save Kleiner Perkins?: Jesus Christ, Kleiner Perkins just can’t catch a break. The latest news – in a year-long deluge of mea culpas, nasty lawsuits, and admissions of strategic missteps – is that the firm is retrenching, refocusing on the consumer Web, and cutting its early stage investment staff. – by Michael Carney, Sarah Lacy – http://pando.com/2013/12/11/john-doerrs-last-stand-can-a-dramatic-shakeup-save-kleiner-perkins/
We who spoke LOLcat now speak Doge: In the internet meme war between cats and dogs, the dogs are currently winning. The “doge” meme features an image (often of an adorable shiba dog), annotated with distinctive phrases representing the thoughts of the dog — or the dragon, or whatever is being depicted. – by Annalee Newitz, on io9 – http://io9.com/we-who-spoke-lolcat-now-speak-doge-1481243678
Amazon said to launch Pantry to take on Costco, Sam’s: SAN FRANCISCO — Amazon.com is working on a new business called Pantry that will help it expand further into the giant consumer package goods market and take on warehouse club stores Costco and Wal-Mart’s Sam’s Club, according to three people familiar with the effort. – by Alistair Barr, USA TODAY – http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2013/12/12/amazon-pantry/4001707/
Twitter’s Latest Partnership, With Truecaller In India, Links Phone Number Look-Ups With Tweeting: Twitter has been inking deals with third parties outside of the U.S. to drive more international usage, both in emerging and mature markets. Today comes news of yet another deal that it hopes will expand its presence in one country in particular: India. – by Ingrid Lunden – http://techcrunch.com/2013/12/12/twitters-latest-partnership-with-truecaller-in-india-links-phone-number-look-ups-with-twitter-accounts/
The case for a six-hour workday: Today, workers are putting in increasingly more hours—so much so that the 40-hour week has become a relic of the past. But pushing employees to clock up those extra hours is bad for their well-being and detrimental to your company. – by Lauren Davidson – http://qz.com/157092/the-case-for-a-six-hour-workday/
Gmail blows up e-mail marketing by caching all images on Google servers: Ever wonder why most e-mail clients hide images by default? The reason for the “display images” button is because images in an e-mail must be loaded from a third-party server. For promotional e-mails and spam, usually this server is operated by the entity that sent the e-mail. – by Ron Amadeo – http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2013/12/gmail-blows-up-e-mail-marketing-by-caching-all-images-on-google-servers/
Wearables, ubiquity and the future of the smartphone, part I: The smartphone is in for a radical change, not only in its function, but also in the way it looks and is carried. And it will spin off its functions to other devices, creating a vast and vibrant electronic ecosystem. In the first of a two-part series, Siegfried Mortkowitz reports. It’s 7.02 a.m. – Tags: Apps & Mobile Tech, smartwatch – http://analysis.openmobilemedia.com/apps-mobile-tech/wearables-ubiquity-and-future-smartphone-part-i
Bitcoin’s Biggest Bet: Andreessen Horowitz Leads $25 Million Investment in Coinbase: If you’re a bitcoin doubter, you might want to turn away. The doors to venture funding in bitcoin startups are about to swing wide open. – by Jason Del Rey – Tags: commerce, general, news, andreessen horowitz, bitpay, chris dixon, coinbase, featured post, founders fund, fred wilson, ribbit capital, union square ventures, usv – http://allthingsd.com/20131212/bitcoins-biggest-bet-andreessen-horowitz-leads-25-million-investment-in-coinbase/
Science Says Art Will Make Your Kids Better Thinkers (and Nicer People): Those who would consider themselves part of the creative class would probably agree that art is an important part of primary school education. – http://m.fastcocreate.com/3023094/science-says-art-will-make-your-kids-better-thinkers-and-nicer-people
First Lasing Nanofibres Open The Way For Cheap, Soft Laser Textiles: There was a time, not so long ago, when lasers were exotic devices that lived in specialist labs and relied on a team of experts to keep them going. – http://www.technologyreview.com/view/522561/first-lasing-nanofibres-open-the-way-for-cheap-soft-laser-textiles/
4 Reasons Why Apple’s iBeacon Is About to Disrupt Interaction Design: You step inside Walmart and your shopping list is transformed into a personalized map, showing you the deals that’ll appeal to you most. You pause in front of a concert poster on the street, pull out your phone, and you’re greeted with an option to buy tickets with a single tap. – by Kyle VanHemert – http://www.wired.com/design/2013/12/4-use-cases-for-ibeacon-the-most-exciting-tech-you-havent-heard-of/
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