Technology in the news – Articles from 2011

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TV3 Campbell Live video, 21 September
Young Entrepreneur of the Year Victoria Ransom has developed a software product which is being used by the likes of Facebook, Sony, Pepsi and Universal to market their brand on social networking sites. She led her company Wildfire to profitability in just one year, and in two years it has grown from seven to 170 employees
Discussion starters:
• Digital Technologies: Social media - software applicatio
• Enterprise: commercialising a good idea
NewScientist.com article, 21 September
Reaching out from under a table to grab a cup of coffee on top might seem like a simple task, but it actually involves planning a mathematically complex journey. That's no problem for humans, who can intuitively skip the maths and jump straight to the caffeine fix, but robots are forced to crunch the numbers. Now researchers have found a shortcut that could help make robots a little more human.
Discussion starter:
• Computer science: motion planning algorithms
NZHerald.com article, 23 September
Daycare centres in Sweden have started using GPS systems and other electronic tracking devices to keep tabs on children during excursions - a practice that has raised ethical and practical questions.
Discussion starter:
• Characteristics of Technology: socio cultural influences; ethical practice
NYTimes.com article, 27 September
A USA company says it has overcome a major roadblock in turning agricultural waste into vehicle fuel and other useful chemicals by experimenting with a technology that treats the waste with compressed water heated to very high temperatures.
Discussion starters:
• Alternative fuels: Using cellulose biomas
• Process technology: scale up issues
Idealog Daily Bacon article, 28 September
We're used to seeing massive solar panels strapped to the roofs of houses and office buildings, but a Victoria University lecturer says a process that incorporates solar cells into roofing materials could serve us better - providing all the energy used in a home or office building in New Zealand, at a more affordable option.
Discussion starter:
• Technological Products: material evaluation
British Council E-zine Cubed, September
Shopping for clothes on the internet means making assumptions about how the fabric will feel on our skin when we finally wear it. What if we could view the product as it is actually being worn by the model, make modifications to it, and get a realistic sense of the quality of the fabrics? The Digital Sensoria project has been exploring just that.
Discussion starters:
• Digital Technologies: Social media-based tools; E-retail applications
ScientificAmerican.com graphic, September
An interactive tour of the world's tallest buildings, including those under construction
Discussion starter:
• Construction Technology: Human factors in design
Idealog Daily Bacon article, 3 October
A busy and productive urban centre without pollution or traffic noise might sound like a daydream, but we're closer to it than you might think. HaloIPT, an Auckland-based tech company, is realising a dream straight out of the future - wirelessly transmitted energy.
Discussion starters:
• Alternative energy sources: competing priorities - efficiency v functionality • Nature of Technology: fitness for purpose in its broadest sense
Radio NZ Nine to Noon interview, 3 October
Urbanist Tommy Honey discusses the third placing overall achieved by the Victoria University First Light House entry in the Solar Decathlon competition in Washington DC.
Discussion starters:
• Building design: aesthetics v functionality
• Energy efficiency: net domestic energy
Huffington Post online article and video, 3 October
In doing so, India has placed itself at the focal point of the movement to challenge genetically modified crops, which opponents say are destroying traditional crops and threatening farmers' livelihoods.
Discussion starter:
• Characteristics of Technology: Biotechnology - socio cultural influences
Stuff.co.nz article, 4 October
Dashboard buttons could be a thing of the past within a few years as car makers look at using futuristic control systems that rely on voices, a wave of the hand or even a glance of the eye.
Discussion starter:
• Digital Technologies: cloud computer control systems
Stuff.co.nz article, 4 October
Criminal networks are feeding off Australians' lust for new technology by skimming data from computers dumped in Africa and Asia - and using it for blackmail, fraud and identity theft.
Discussion starter:
• Digital Technologies: e-waste; data protection
Mailonline article, 7 October
Thermometer, stethoscope... smartphone? Research from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (UK) shows that smartphones could replace anything from heart monitors to microscopes. The researchers proved that by simply pressing a patient's finger against a Motorola Android smartphone's camera, they could harvest data as accurately as the huge and expensive monitors used in hospitals. Other researchers showed off using iPhone as a microscope - and an app that breathalyses you to 'tell' you if you are hungry enough for a snack.
Discussion starters:
• Characteristics of Technological Outcomes: 'proper' and 'alternative' functions
• Digital Technologies: new software applications
Idealog Daily Bacon article, 10 October
More than 600 designers turned out for the Best Awards 2011, which received a total of 812 entries - the highest in the 23-year history of the event. A multitude of Gold, Silver and Bronze pins were handed out, with four winners picking up the most coveted pin of all, the Purple Pin, representing supreme design within each category.
Discussion starter:
• Design in Technology: good design
New York Times online article, 13 October
Jonathan Mak, a university student in Hong Kong, went from being an unknown aspiring graphic designer to an Internet sensation after an image he produced spread rapidly across digital platforms after the death of Steve Jobs the co-founder of Apple. Mak's design of a silhouetted profile of Steve Jobs in the Apple company logo was shared across the Web and reported by media. And then, nearly as fast, he found himself being vilified.
Discussion starter:
• Design and Visual Communication: graphic design protocols; intellectual property issues

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