Innovation is about finding a better way of doing something. Like many of the new development buzzwords (which many of them are over-used on many business documents), the concept of innovation originates from the world of business. It refers to the generation of new products through the process of creative entrepreneurship, putting it into production, and diffusing it more widely through increased sales. Innovation can be viewed as t he application of better solutions that meet new requirements, in-articulated needs, or existing market needs. This is accomplished through more effective products, processes, services, technologies, or ideas that are readily available to markets, governments and society. The term innovation can be defined as something original and, as a consequence, new, that “breaks into” the market or society.
Innoveracy: Misunderstanding Innovation article points out that there is a form of ignorance which seems to be universal: the inability to understand the concept and role of innovation. The way this is exhibited is in the misuse of the term and the inability to discern the difference between novelty, creation, invention and innovation. The result is a failure to understand the causes of success and failure in business and hence the conditions that lead to economic growth. The definition of innovation is easy to find but it seems to be hard to understand. Here is a simple taxonomy of related activities that put innovation in context:
- Novelty: Something new
- Creation: Something new and valuable
- Invention: Something new, having potential value through utility
- Innovation: Something new and uniquely useful
The taxonomy is illustrated with the following diagram.
The differences are also evident in the mechanisms that exist to protect the works: Novelties are usually not protectable, Creations are protected by copyright or trademark, Inventions can be protected for a limited time through patents (or kept secret) and Innovations can be protected through market competition but are not defensible through legal means.
Innovation is a lot of talked about nowdays as essential to businesses to do. Is innovation essential for development work? article tells that innovation has become central to the way development organisations go about their work. In November 2011, Bill Gates told the G20 that innovation was the key to development. Donors increasingly stress innovation as a key condition for funding, and many civil society organisations emphasise that innovation is central to the work they do.
Some innovation ideas are pretty simple, and some are much more complicated and even sound crazy when heard first. The is place for crazy sounding ideas: venture capitalists are gravely concerned that the tech startups they’re investing in just aren’t crazy enough:
Not all development problems require new solutions, sometimes you just need to use old things in a slightly new way. Development innovations may involve devising technology (such as a nanotech water treatment kit), creating a new approach (such as microfinance), finding a better way of delivering public services (such as one-stop egovernment service centres), identifying ways of working with communities (such as participation), or generating a management technique (such as organisation learning).
Theorists of innovation identify innovation itself as a brief moment of creativity, to be followed by the main routine work of producing and selling the innovation. When it comes to development, things are more complicated. Innovation needs to be viewed as tool, not master. Innovation is a process, not a one time event. Genuine innovation is valuable but rare.
There are many views on the innovation and innvation process. I try to collect together there some views I have found on-line. Hopefully they help you more than confuze. Managing complexity and reducing risk article has this drawing which I think pretty well describes innovation as done in product development:
8 essential practices of successful innovation from The Innovator’s Way shows essential practices in innovation process. Those practices are all integrated into a non-sequential, coherent whole and style in the person of the innovator.
In the IT work there is lots of work where a little thinking can be a source of innovation. Automating IT processes can be a huge time saver or it can fail depending on situation. XKCD comic strip Automation as illustrates this:
System integration is a critical element in project design article has an interesting project cost influence graphic. The recommendation is to involve a system integrator early in project design to help ensure high-quality projects that satisfy project requirements. Of course this article tries to market system integration services, but has also valid points to consider.
Core Contributor Loop (CTTDC) from Art Journal blog posting Blog Is The New Black tries to link inventing an idea to theory of entrepreneurship. It is essential to tune the engine by making improvements in product, marketing, code, design and operations.
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Tomi Engdahl says:
13 Hard to Learn Skills That Will Help You SucceedThese skills require a big time commitment to acquire but will pay off in the long run.
https://www.inc.com/business-insider/3-key-skills-valuable-difficult-to-learn-help-you-succeed.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.tekniikkatalous.fi/uutiset/fyysikot-mittasivat-ensi-kertaa-1930-ennustetun-paradoksin-kun-valohiukkanen-iskee-atomiin-atomi-kimpoaa-takaisin-eika-eteenpain/7802a005-b045-44a3-aa47-eca94f5c989f
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.iflscience.com/physics/scientist-have-seen-the-rarest-event-ever-recorded/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Festo’s latest biomimetic robots are a flying feathered bird and ball-bottomed helper arm
https://techcrunch.com/2020/07/02/festos-latest-biomimetic-robots-are-a-flying-feathered-bird-and-ball-bottomed-helper-arm/?tpcc=ECFB2020
Tomi Engdahl says:
Why is growth hacking so important that it’s added to the official curriculum of Finland’s top university?
We collected the viewpoints of one of the guest lecturers, representative from a client organisation, the course professor and one of the students to have an overview of how the course was perceived by them.
The growth hacking course for university students is a collaboration between Columbia Road and Aalto University. It was taught for the second time ever this spring. Starting next year, the course is established as part of the official curriculum for a master’s program.
Why our growth hacking course in Aalto University is becoming part of curriculum
https://www.columbiaroad.com/blog/why-our-growth-hacking-course-in-aalto-university-is-becoming-part-of-curriculum?utm_content=132522720&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&hss_channel=fbp-1180887171984670
The growth hacking course for university students in Aalto University – a collaboration between Columbia Road and Aalto University – was taught for the second time ever this spring. This was still a pilot course, but starting next year, the course is established as part of the official curriculum for a master’s program.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Work From Home Engineering Jobs Open a World of Possibilities
https://www.designnews.com/automation-motion-control/work-home-engineering-jobs-open-world-possibilities?ADTRK=InformaMarkets&elq_mid=13683&elq_cid=876648
Engineering employment may have taken a hit during the pandemic, but many of those in engineering are just shifting to home-based work. Companies that employ engineers have adjusted to home-based work, even in their hiring practices.
Typically, mechanical, electrical, and design engineers need to be hands-on and practical. Yet there are some areas which can be tackled from home with good internet connection and technology.
Many companies are now advertising specifically for work-from-home engineers.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Google, eBay, LEGO, Slack, Zalando ja monet muut suuret yritykset ovat vaihtaneet brainstormauksen Design Sprintiin ratkoakseen liiketoimintaongelmansa. Menetelmän avulla kuukausien suunnittelutyö tiivistyy 5 päivään. Lue lisää Design Sprintistä sivuillamme.
Design Sprint
https://www.meom.fi/design-sprint/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=DS+liikenne&utm_content=DS+C-versio&hsa_acc=63781965&hsa_cam=6132025711736&hsa_net=facebook&hsa_grp=6132025714336&hsa_src=fb&hsa_ad=6133134137336&hsa_ver=3
Design Sprint on GV:n luoma 5-päiväinen menetelmä liiketoiminnan ongelmien ratkaisemiseksi, uusien tuotteiden luomiseksi tai nykyisten parantamiseksi.
Design Sprint on Google Venturesin kehittämä tuotekehityksessä ja palvelumuotoilussa yleisesti käytetty työpajamenetelmä. Sitä käyttävät sadat kansainväliset huippuyritykset, kuten Google, Slack, Lego, Ebay ja Zalando.
Design Sprintissä yhdessä viikossa edetään ongelman määrittelystä testattuun ratkaisuun.
Sprintti sisältää 3 työpajapäivää, prototyypin rakentamisen sekä käyttäjäkohtaamispäivän, jona konsepti testataan.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Researchers have discovered a technique for making multi-colored, iridescent chocolate — and the same technique could apply to other foods, fabrics, paper, and plastic in the future.
Nanotech Diffraction Gratings Give ETH Zurich’s Chocolate an Iridescent Sheen — Without Additives
https://www.hackster.io/news/nanotech-diffraction-gratings-give-eth-zurich-s-chocolate-an-iridescent-sheen-without-additives-22b7ef6496ac
Cooked up in a university kitchen — literally — these colorful chocolates require no additives or special ingredients.
https://spectrum.ieee.org/nanoclast/semiconductors/nanotechnology/researchers-create-shiny-rainbows-of-nanotech-chocolate
Clever “P-flat” Sheets Allow for Simple “Holographic” Effects on 3D-Printed Objects
https://www.hackster.io/news/clever-p-flat-sheets-allow-for-simple-holographic-effects-on-3d-printed-objects-d8b2efaed696q
Good for up to 50 prints, the “P-flat” sheets transfer fine diffracting grating patterns to the flat bottom layer of any 3D-printed object.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Lisa Cook wanted to study the importance of the rule of law in generating innovation. She found a disturbing historical experiment in the way the United States treated African American inventors.
How Violence and Segregation Destroyed African American Innovation
https://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/at-work/innovation/how-violence-and-segregation-destroyed-african-american-innovation
In 2014, economist Lisa D. Cook reported research that illuminated something fundamental about innovation: No matter how well your IP laws are written, innovation won’t happen without security and the rule of law. To prove that she showed how segregation laws, lynchings, and state-supported violence suppressed African American invention during the 20th Century. By tracking the patent filings of African American inventors from 1870-1940, Cook showed that acts of violence have a measurable impact on innovation. IEEE Spectrum spoke to the Michigan State University professor of economics and international relations on 2 July 2020.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.iflscience.com/brain/a-technique-to-control-your-dreams-has-been-verified-for-the-first-time/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://brightside.me/wonder-curiosities/15-real-items-that-were-created-by-genius-people-507810/?utm_source=tsp_pages&utm_medium=fb_organic&utm_campaign=fb_gr_foodgasmic
Tomi Engdahl says:
Did bullshit business process kill once the biggest smart phone business?
https://medium.com/@leanne.m.griffin/the-rise-and-fall-of-nokia-a-cautionary-tale-for-innovation-programmes-59d1bcdc9516
Tomi Engdahl says:
An Engineer Explains How to Forge a Career Designing for Disabilities
https://spectrum.ieee.org/at-work/tech-careers/an-engineer-explains-how-to-forge-a-career-designing-for-disabilities
Tomi Engdahl says:
SOME PEOPLE ARE EXCEPTIONALLY GOOD AT PREDICTING THE FUTURE
https://futurism.com/the-byte/super-forecaster-predicting-future
Some people have a knack for accurately predicting the likelihood of future events. You might even be one of these “super-forecasters” and not know it — but now there’s an easy way to find out.
Anyone interested in testing their own forecasting skills can sign up for the challenge to answer a series of multiple-choice questions and assign a percentage to how likely each answer is to come true.
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20190410-could-you-be-a-super-forecaster
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.edn.com/the-mathematics-of-gaussian-probability-distribution/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.iflscience.com/editors-blog/mathematicians-use-new-tricks-to-solve-centuryold-geometry-problem/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://bigthink.com/surprising-science/number-137-physics?rebelltitem=3#rebelltitem3?rebelltitem=3
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.fastcompany.com/90524642/why-we-self-sabotage-and-3-ways-to-stop-doing-it?partner=forbes
Why we self-sabotage (and 3 ways to stop doing it)
Self-sabotage can come from fear of failure, of rejection, of not meeting your own and others’ expectations, and becomes a way to preserve yourself from pain and disappointment.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The system of learning new creative skills is broken – so how can it evolve?
https://www.itsnicethat.com/features/the-creative-report-the-system-of-learning-new-creative-skills-is-broken-graphic-design-160720?utm_source=adobeskillfacebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=intsocial
Time is often impossible to find within creative teams. But, with individuals across different levels keen to learn new skills, how can we evolve this possibly broken system?
“Learning doesn’t always have to be intentional, but can be something that just happens naturally.”
“As long as you get there, and the way you get there is thoughtful, you can get there in whatever way you want.”
Alice Moloney, Google Research
“We wouldn’t be able to produce the work we do without the team’s wide range of experience and continued growth.”
Aporva Baxi, DixonBaxi
Tomi Engdahl says:
Bored kids at home? These free, printable activity sheets will entertain kids while they learn about robots!
Get PDF
https://robots.ieee.org/learn/activities/download/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Engineers just debuted the first ‘non-cuttable’ material: a metal that turns tools against themselves
https://trib.al/eeKqSaQ
https://www.businessinsider.com/worlds-first-non-cuttable-metal-material-2020-7
Researchers in the UK and Germany have engineered a metal that they describe as the world’s first human-made “non-cuttable” material.
The material, called Proteus, causes sharp tools to “turn against themselves” by creating dust that acts like sandpaper, blunting blades.
The material has a variety of potential uses, from security doors to bike locks
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.dezeen.com/2020/07/24/oppo-royal-college-of-art-humanising-technology/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Changes to the IEEE Code of Ethics reflect commitment to ethical and professional conduct.
Board of Directors Approves Revisions to the IEEE Code of Ethics
https://spectrum.ieee.org/the-institute/ieee-news/board-of-directors-approves-revisions-to-the-ieee-code-of-ethics
Tomi Engdahl says:
Without desks and a demo day, are accelerators worth it?
https://techcrunch.com/2020/07/27/without-desks-and-a-demo-day-are-accelerators-worth-it/?tpcc=ECTW2020
As a result of the pandemic, accelerators have moved operations fully remote to abide by social distancing. The shift has forced well-known programs like 500 Startups, Y Combinator and Techstars to go fully online, while encouraging existing venture capital firms to launch new digital-only fellowships like Cleo Capital and NextView Ventures.
Before the pandemic, accelerators could advertise their value by lending desk space once used by Airbnb, Twilio and Brex’s co-founders, plus a glitzy demo day. Now, stripped of their in-person element, the actual value of an accelerator program — and the network they provide — is being tested in new ways.
So a question remains for participating founders: Are they getting the benefits of what they thought they signed up for?
Tomi Engdahl says:
Here is how 3D technology with mixed reality gives a better view of human anatomy for surgeons.
This Is How 3D Technology Gives Surgeons Better Vision
http://on.forbes.com/6184GjidC
On July 29, 2020, the first robotically assisted knee replacement surgery was performed at Rochester Regional Health United Memorial Medical Center (UMMC) with the Rosa Knee System by Zimmer Bionet.
“Research shows over half of the population of surgeons exhibit signs of burnout. Combined with a shortage of up to 23,000 surgeons by 2032 and current events like Covid-19 that has led to a huge backlog of elective surgeries only serve to increase the pressure on surgeons going forward,” added Browd.
“Revision surgeries, or “redo’s”, on spinal surgery [..] cost the US health system over $1 B a year,” said Jones. “That’s in only one category of surgery. Those costs ultimately are borne by the patient in the form of insurance rates and co-pays. Ultimately, better accuracy leads to less revision surgery, healthier patients, happier surgeons, and lower costs.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
“This is a complete paradigm shift for treating people with total blindness.”
Neural Implant Sends Camera Feed Into Blind People’s Brains
https://futurism.com/wired-camera-directly-brains-blind-people
“It is not perfect vision — it is like grainy 1980s surveillance video footage,” Spencer added. “It may not be full vision yet, but it’s something.”
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/jul/13/brain-implant-restores-partial-vision-to-blind-people
Tomi Engdahl says:
In the beginning the universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.
Mathematicians Solve ’42′ Problem With Planetary Supercomputer
MICHELLE STARR
9 SEPTEMBER 2019
https://www.sciencealert.com/the-sum-of-three-cubes-problem-has-been-solved-for-42
Mathematicians have finally figured out the three cubed numbers that add up to 42. This has settled a problem that has been pondered for 65 years: namely, can each of the natural numbers below 100 be expressed as the sum of three cubes?
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.helsinki.fi/fi/uutiset/terveys/vitkuttelijan-logiikka-miksi-lykkaamme-vaistamatonta
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.itsnicethat.com/features/the-creative-report-the-system-of-learning-new-creative-skills-is-broken-graphic-design-160720?utm_source=adobeskillfacebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=intsocial
Tomi Engdahl says:
Spermato-WHOA-a! Human Sperm Don’t Swim Like We Thought
https://spectrum.ieee.org/the-human-os/biomedical/imaging/spermatowhoaa-human-sperm-dont-swim-like-we-thought
For more than three centuries scientists have believed that human sperm swim by swishing their tails in a side-to-side, symmetrical motion. But that’s because we’ve been looking at them with 2D microscopes.
Using state-of-the-art 3D microscopy, a piezoelectric device, and mathematics, researchers in Mexico discovered how sperm really move: They spin, with a wonky asymmetrical wiggle.
3D microscopy has been around for over a decade, but it took this long to perfect it and to bring in the other pieces—the math and the piezoelectric device—in a cohesive way. “Sperm move really fast, and the problem has always been how to reconstruct something in 3D that is moving at a super fast rate and that is so small,” says Gadêlha.
The new knowledge of sperm motility will certainly impact fertility studies and other biological research. It could also inspire engineering projects. “What the sperm is doing, after all, are computations with its body, without having a brain,” says Gadêlha. And isn’t that an engineer’s dream? Think soft robotics and artificial intelligence.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Cranes were invented by the Greeks, perhaps inspiring the motto “Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world” —Archimedes
Cranes Lift More Than Their Weight in the World of Shipping and Construction
https://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-history/heroic-failures/cranes-lift-more-than-their-weight-in-the-world-of-shipping-and-construction
Tomi Engdahl says:
After taking the time to learn a new skill on your own, apply it in your work immediately.
4 Habits of People Who Are Always Learning New Skills
https://hbr.org/2018/01/4-habits-of-people-who-are-always-learning-new-skills?utm_campaign=hbr&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook
Tomi Engdahl says:
One of the most surprising findings was that flapping-wing robots can actually be more efficient than propeller-based drones.
High Performance Ornithopter Drone Is Quiet, Efficient, and Safe
https://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/drones/high-performance-ornithopter-drone
The vast majority of drones are rotary-wing systems (like quadrotors), and for good reason: They’re cheap, they’re easy, they scale up and down well, and we’re getting quite good at controlling them, even in very challenging environments. For most applications, though, drones lose out to birds and their flapping wings in almost every way—flapping wings are very efficient, enable astonishing agility, and are much safer, able to make compliant contact with surfaces rather than shredding them like a rotor system does. But flapping wing have their challenges too: Making flapping-wing robots is so much more difficult than just duct taping spinning motors to a frame that, with a few exceptions, we haven’t seen nearly as much improvement as we have in more conventional drones.
Tomi Engdahl says:
These professors have been ‘canceled’ for standing up to the Left
https://campusreform.org/?ID=15379#.Xyoy0IzN6Uk.facebook
Campus Reform has reported multiple instances where professors have faced discipline for speaking out against popular viewpoints.
Campus Reform identified the most egregious examples of professors who have fallen victim to “cancel culture.”
As we’ve reported extensively at Campus Reform, professors across America are facing mounting pressure to fall in line with the Left’s “Social Justice” movement. While it sounds nice, oftentimes, supporting “social justice” means supporting socialist, Marxist policies and organizations.
Increasingly, those within academia who fail to wholeheartedly support such movements are labeled “racists” and “white supremacists” and fired or suspended by their institutions.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ways to Train Your Brain to Get What You WantIn April 2015, I got serious about my goal to become a professional writer.
https://www.inc.com/benjamin-p-hardy/how-to-train-your-brain-to-get-what-you-want-in-60.html?cid=sf01002&sr_share=facebook
To be even considered by agents and publishers, writers need to already have a substantial readership (i.e., a platform). I told one of the agents my goal was to have 5,000 blog subscribers by the end of 2015. She responded, “That would not be possible from where you currently are. These things take time. You will not be able to get a publisher for three to five years. That’s just the reality.”
“Reality to who?” I thought as I hung up the phone.
In his book The Compound Effect, Darren Hardy said, “Never ask advice of someone with whom you wouldn’t want to trade places.”
Whom you follow determines where you get in life. If your leader isn’t moving forward, you’re not moving forward, because your results are a reflection of your leader’s results.
Most kids go to college without a clue why they are there. They are floating along waiting to be told what to do next. They haven’t seen or thought enough to know what their ideal life would look like. So how could they possibly know how to distinguish good advice from bad?
Conversely, people who know what they want in life see the world differently. All people selectively attend to things that interest or excite them. For example, when you buy a new car, you start to notice the same car every where. How does this happen?
Our brains are constantly filtering an unfathomable amount of sensory inputs: sounds, smells, visuals, and more. Most of this information goes consciously unrecognized. Our focused attention is on what we care about. Thus, some people only notice the bad while others see the good in everything. Some notice people wearing band shirts, while others notice anything fitness related.
What are you seeing everywhere? This is perhaps the clearest reflection of your conscious identity.
The magical things that happen when you begin paying attention.
Wherever it is you want to go, there is a long and conventional path, and there are shorter, less conventional approaches. The conventional path is the outcome of not paying attention. It’s what happens when you let other people dictate your direction and speed in life.
However, once you know what you want – and it intensely arouses your attention – you will notice simpler and easier solutions to your questions.
In May 2015, I came across an online course about guest blogging. It must have popped in my newsfeeds because of my previous searching. I paid the $197, went through the course, and within two weeks was getting articles featured on multiple self-help blogs.
Around this same time, I listened to a podcast on which Tim Ferriss said, “One blog post can change the entire trajectory of your career.” Such was the case for him. An article he wrote generated wild traffic, which spilled over into increased sales for his book, The 4-Hour Workweek. This wave of traffic led to the book’s success, and the rest, as they say, is history.
When your mind takes hold of an idea, you do everything in your power to manifest it.
In an age of skepticism and doubt, a childlike faith can take you a long way. Before each article I wrote (and continue to write), I pray that the work I produce will be beyond my own capability; and I visualize my work reaching the people who need it. To quote Napoleon Hill, “Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.”
Again, the advice you take and the people you emulate matter. You are being influenced, especially subconsciously, by the influences you take to heart. There are people out there operating at brilliantly high levels. If you’re serious about getting results, find those people and begin thinking like them. You’ll be stunned how fast your life can change.
Your mindset and desires determine how big you’re willing to play.
Conclusion.
When you know what you want, you notice opportunities most people aren’t aware of. You also have the rare courage to seize those opportunities without procrastination, because what you focus on expands.
Courage doesn’t just involve saying yes – it also involves saying no. But how could you possibly say no to certain opportunities if you don’t know what you want? You can’t.
But if you know what you want, you’ll be willing to pass up even brilliant opportunities because ultimately they are distractions from your vision. As Jim Collins said in Good to Great, “A ‘once-in-a-lifetime opportunity’ is irrelevant if it is the wrong opportunity.”
“Once-in-a-lifetime” opportunities (i.e., distractions) pop up every day. But the right opportunities will start popping up only when you decide what you want and start selectively attending to them.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hacker Explains One Concept in 5 Levels of Difficulty | WIRED
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=d9PqVcgT1kQ&feature=youtu.be
Security researcher and computer hacker Samy Kamkar is asked to explain the concept of computer hacking to 5 different people; a child, a teen, a college student, a grad student, and an expert.
Tomi Engdahl says:
According to our survey, there is a huge lack of tech skills across the creative industry.
Is the creative industry equipped to work with emerging technologies?
https://www.itsnicethat.com/features/creative-skills-report-are-we-equipped-enough-to-work-with-emerging-technologies-digital-300720?utm_source=adobeskillfacebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=intsocial
Although the majority of creatives are keen to learn about new technologies (and clients demand they do), the lack of skills across the industry is alarmingly low. So, how do you and your team get started?
In the creative industry, companies are often highly familiar with the search for elusive, never-thought-of-before ideas. Away from traditional creative outcomes, emerging technologies offer a rare opportunity to access these unimaginable ideas, to bring them to life, or even push the concept further.
On paper it seems logical for a creative company to invest time into developing future-facing skills, whether it’s VR and AR, AI and robotics, 3D modelling and printing, or even the so-called Internet of Things. It appears to be a smart business move too, as when surveying creatives from over 60 of Europe’s leading creative studios, agencies and brands, 54 per cent believe that a workable knowledge of emerging technologies would be the most helpful thing for attracting new clients. However, and possibly alarmingly, nearly half (47 per cent) of our respondents admitted to not feeling equipped to work with any emerging technologies whatsoever.
Tomi Engdahl says:
“Don’t worry: if you’re working in emerging tech, you’ll always feel unequipped.”
Liam Walsh
https://www.itsnicethat.com/features/creative-skills-report-are-we-equipped-enough-to-work-with-emerging-technologies-digital-300720?utm_source=adobeskillfacebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=intsocial
Tomi Engdahl says:
You can try the techniques for yourself.
How To Super-Charge Your Memory Abilities Like The Ancient Greeks
https://www.iflscience.com/brain/how-to-supercharge-your-memory-abilities-like-the-ancient-greeks/
Cognitive neuroscientists have scanned the brains of 23 “world memory champions” in an attempt to uncover the wiring behind their incredible memory feats. Using these findings, they have managed to enhance the gooey-computer (ie. the brain) of individuals with typical memory abilities within 40 days.
You can even try out the techniques used in the study for yourself online. The study was published in the scientific journal Neuron.
The memory athletes all said they have mnemonic training strategies to sharpen their memory skills. This got the researchers thinking: Could any mind through training have these extra-sharp connectivity patterns and therefore obtain “superhuman” memory skills?
They gathered 51 individuals with typical memory skills and ran them through a program of “loci training”. This technique was first put forward by the ancient Greeks and Romans, with loci being Latin for “places”. The basic premise is to visualize a physical space, perhaps a street or a park, and remember the place of certain words, items, or concepts as you “walk” through the space in your imagination.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Dark Sense of Humor Linked to High Intelligence – Study
https://www.psychologistworld.com/cognitive/black-humor-linked-to-high-intelligence-study
People who appreciate taboo jokes and other forms of black humor show higher levels of intelligence, according to a recent study.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Miksi partahöylä menettää teränsä niin pian, vaikka terä on 50 kertaa karvaa kovempaa? Mikroskooppikuvat ja -videot paljastivat yllättävän mekanismin – ja se ei ole tylsyminen
https://www.tekniikkatalous.fi/uutiset/miksi-partahoyla-menettaa-teransa-niin-pian-vaikka-tera-on-50-kertaa-karvaa-kovempaa-mikroskooppikuvat-ja-videot-paljastivat-yllattavan-mekanismin-ja-se-ei-ole-tylsyminen/19140c7e-14d8-4634-8e71-51f410a514d4
MIT:n metallurgien mikroskooppikuvat ja -videot paljastivat, että ongelmana ei ole terän hioutuminen pyöreämmäksi, vaan sen murtuminen.
Partahöylän terä kuluu parran ajamisesta yllättävän nopeasti, vaikka terä on paljon kovempaa ainetta kuin karvat, joita sillä katkotaan. Nyt metallurgit MIT:stä Yhdysvalloista ovat selvittäneet mikroskooppikuvien ja -videoiden avulla ilmiön yllättävän mekanismin.
karvojen vastus saa sopivissa olosuhteissa terästä lohkeamaan mikroskooppisia, parinkymmenen mikrometrin levyisiä siruja, jotka aiheuttavat käyttäjän iholla samalta tuntuvan efektin. Lohkeama voi aiheutua jo yhdestä ainoasta ihokarvasta, vaikka partahöylän teräs on keksinnöstä kertovan MIT:n lehdistötiedotteen mukaan 50 kertaa kovempaa ainetta kuin karva.
http://news.mit.edu/2020/why-shaving-dulls-razors-0806
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://interestingengineering.com/7-ways-music-helps-you-be-more-creative-healthy-and-even-loving
Tomi Engdahl says:
Do Engineers Live Longer? A Look at Occupational Factors’ Effect on Longevity
https://www.eetimes.com/do-engineers-live-longer-a-look-at-occupational-factors-effect-on-longevity/
It’s a question asked and researched time and again: what factors make for a long life? As early as the 1850s, studies crop up examining the life expectancies of those engaged in different occupations and for a good reason: people spend around a third of their life working. It stands to reason that work environments contribute to these factors. Physical demands, work-related stress, the intensity of your work schedule — how much do these elements affect one’s long-term health outcomes? Can your choice of career help determine your longevity?
Tomi Engdahl says:
Miniaturizing Technology for the Better
https://www.designnews.com/electronics/miniaturizing-technology-better?ADTRK=InformaMarkets&elq_mid=13828&elq_cid=876648
Miniaturization of electronic, mechanical, and optical systems have benefited almost all technical fields and products.
Thanks to the amazing transistor scaling of Moore’s Law, semiconductor chips have consistently shrunken in size since the 1970s. In addition to getting smaller, chips also require less power to perform the same tasks while also decreasing in cost. The benefits wrought by the advances in the semiconductor manufacturing have also led to miniaturization in mechanical and optical systems.
The shrinking size of chips has enabled the miniaturization of boards and other systems, which is why smartphones, wearable an even automotive vehicles have gotten smaller and more compact. The benefits of miniaturization are being enjoyed across many different fields of application, from sensors, wearables and medical devices to and satellites, drones and even video games. This slideshow will highlight only a tiny portion of products and systems improved by this shrinking trend.
Tomi Engdahl says:
15 Semiconductor Milestones That Created the Modern World
https://www.designnews.com/electronics/15-semiconductor-milestones-created-modern-world?ADTRK=InformaMarkets&elq_mid=13848&elq_cid=876648
Without these semiconductor milestones and events, the modern world of technology would not exist as we know it today.
The world of semiconductor electronics has a rich if not often misunderstood history. The slideshow – in more or less chronological order – highlights only a very few of the critical milestones of this world-changing industry. It will also serve to complement the 50th Anniversary of the SEMI organization, which is one of the major institutes that has represented the industry for the last half a century.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Talent Talk: Why You Should Hire the Older Worker
Young people typically expect to change jobs every two to three years. If you want to hire an employee who is very likely to be with your company for 10 or more years, do not overlook candidates who are 55 to 60, or even older.
https://www.designnews.com/industry/talent-talk-why-you-should-hire-older-worker?ADTRK=InformaMarkets&elq_mid=14076&elq_cid=876648
Tomi Engdahl says:
This chameleon-inspired robotic tongue snatches nearby objects in the blink of an eye https://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/robotics/robotics-hardware/robotic-chameleon-tongue-snatches-objects
Tomi Engdahl says:
Designing for Circularity
https://www.eetimes.com/designing-for-circularity/
After the book was published, the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute was founded to address the “how to” challenge. They developed criteria to certify products against principles described in the book. While no electronics have been certified to date, a handful of lighting and power distribution products are certified (albeit at the lowest level, “Bronze”).
The title refers to the goal, which is to avoid having a “grave” in the product lifecycle; the linear economy, as noted in last month’s column, results in disposal — in landfills — of products after they are no longer useful. The landfill is the product’s grave. Cradle to Cradle introduced key concepts that led to the “circular economy” by defining two types of “nutrients:” biological and technical.
“Products optimized for the technical cycle are termed technical nutrients (e.g. metals and some polymers) and are intended to circulate in closed-loop industrial cycles.” Electronics, perhaps excepting some medical devices (and research, which we will discuss in the future), are firmly in the technical nutrient camp. Achieving the technical nutrient cycle requires a complete understanding of materials and stages in a product’s lifecycle. HP’s inkjet cartridge enclosure recycling we discussed last month is an implementation of a “closed-loop industrial cycle”.
Complete understanding of materials
Consider the basic categories of materials used in the products you design and build. Primary material categories (and examples) include
Metals: copper, aluminum, iron, tin
Polymers (plastics): polycarbonate (PC), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), polyvinylchloride (PVC)
Semiconductors and semiconductor compounds: silicon, gallium arsenide, gallium nitride
Glasses and ceramics
A host of additive substances and compounds that vary based on the specific application are used to enhance or give these materials properties that enable their usefulness:
Adding other elements like beryllium to copper or chromium to iron give them particularly useful properties. Copper is already an excellent conductor of heat and electricity; adding beryllium gives it the strength and “springiness” that allows it to be used for connector contacts. Iron, while cheap and plentiful, readily rusts. Adding chromium to iron results in stainless steel.
Silicon by itself, while a semiconductor, is not very useful; it must be “doped” with other elements such as arsenic, phosphorus and/or boron that create n- or p-type diffusions or layers. As noted in a previous column, the list of elements used in semiconductors is extensive.
Polymers must be colored, stabilized and often flame-retarded with chemical additives to be usable and reliable in electronics applications.
A wide variety of glasses and ceramics are used in electronics. Glass is widely used in displays, semiconductors, resistors, etc. Ceramics are found in integrated circuit packaging, surface mount (and other) resistors and capacitors, etc. Many glasses and ceramics are made from oxides of various elements (e.g., silicon dioxide, aluminum oxide) with other oxides and compounds (e.g. lead oxides) added to impart particular parametric or functional properties.
Creation of a “closed-loop industrial cycle”, therefore, requires consideration of the properties of each substance used in each material over (at least) the use life of the product as well as whether and how it can be separated from the base material it is used in (and, ultimately, whether it should be), or — in the case of components, assemblies and modules — simply reused again in its existing form without concern for degradation over time and subsequent failure.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Apple is well on its way to become one of the least innovative companies in high tech.
It’s Official: Apple Is Turning Into IBMApple’s new “subscription bundles” are a tacit admission that Apple is entering its tech-firm dotage.
https://www.inc.com/geoffrey-james/its-official-apple-is-turning-into-ibm.html?cid=sf01002
According to Bloomberg, Apple plans to announce “subscription bundles” with its new line of iPhones slated to launch in October of this year. If true, it’s yet another sign that Apple is becoming the dullest of all tech businesses: a cash-cow-milking service provider.
“Every great tech company begins as an innovator, becomes a de facto standard, and eventually degenerates into a service provider.”
IBM, for example, was insanely innovative, becoming the first company to make digital computing practical outside of a laboratory. By the 1970s and into the 1980s and the PC era, IBM completely dominated the computer industry. It was the company of which it was said, “You’ll never be fired for buying IBM” — in other words, the de facto standard.
Today, almost two-thirds of IBM’s revenue comes from “services” and only 8 percent from hardware sales. IBM still generates a lot of patents, but when it comes to having an impact on high tech, IBM has become practically a footnote.
A similar process happened with Microsoft. It was spectacularly innovative in the 1980s, so much so that it was seen even then as the successor to IBM. However, after Windows and Office became de facto standards, Microsoft stopped innovating, and with its move to the subscription model for its software, Microsoft has become, like IBM, a service provider.
Which brings us to Apple. Remember when people lined up to buy the new Apple devices? When Apple was the most innovative company in the world? But then it became the de facto standard for smartphones and the innovation ground to a halt. For the past decade, Apple’s new releases have hovered somewhere between a shrug and a “meh.”
Apple’s new “subscription bundles” will simply serve to lock current Apple users into only buying Apple products in the future, at which point Apple can stop pretending to be innovative and instead release mediocre, overpriced products. Apple will still generate plenty of revenue, but it will become as boring and predictable as Microsoft or IBM.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The future belongs to generalists.
Harvard lecturer: ‘No specific skill will get you ahead in the future’—but this ‘way of thinking’ will
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/15/harvard-yale-researcher-future-success-is-not-a-specific-skill-its-a-type-of-thinking.html?__source=facebook%7Cmain
Many of us have been told that deep expertise will lead to enhanced credibility, rapid job advancement, and escalating incomes. The alternative of being broad-minded is usually dismissed as dabbling without really adding value.
But the future may be very different: Breadth of perspective and the ability to connect the proverbial dots (the domain of generalists) is likely to be as important as depth of expertise and the ability to generate dots (the domain of specialists).
The rapid advancement of technology, combined with increased uncertainty, is making the most important career logic of the past counterproductive going forward. The world, to put it bluntly, has changed, but our philosophy around skills development has not.
Today’s dynamic complexity demands an ability to thrive in ambiguous and poorly defined situations, a context that generates anxiety for most, because it has always felt safer to generalize.