Really Rocket Science

Sebadoh posted on Friday about Google getting into the satellite radio business. Well, it looks like Google is also making forays into television. Not producing, mind you, but monitoring what you watch and producing related internet content.

In a research paper presented last week at interactive television conference Euro ITV in Athens, Greece, Google researchers Michele Covell and Shumeet Baluja propose using ambient-audio identification technology to capture TV sound with a laptop PC to identify the show that is the source of the sound and to use that information to immediately return personalized Internet content to the PC.

"We showed how to sample the ambient sound emitted from a TV and automatically determine what is being watched from a small signature of the sound—all with complete privacy and minuscule effort," Covell and Baluja write on the Google Research Blog. "The system could keep up with users while they channel surf, presenting them with a real-time forum about a live political debate one minute and an ad-hoc chat room for a sporting event in the next."

… According to Boralv, the system wouldn’t be that intrusive. She writes, "If you were watching the news and wanted to delve deeper, this type of system could allow you to do that easily by automatically collecting related material and Web links for you. The beauty of the system that Michele and Shumeet describe is that it wouldn’t be a distraction. If you don’t want it you can ignore it and the PC browser will quietly update pages without bothering anyone—no input required and no audible output to form a distraction."

Those appalled by the prospect of Google tapping your television take heart: The proposal suggests user privacy would be respected. "[O]ur approach will not ‘overhear’ conversations," the paper says. "Furthermore, no one receiving (or intercepting) these statistics is able to eavesdrop, on such conversations, since the original audio does not leave the viewer’s computer." Perhaps there’s a lesson here for the National Security Agency.

Creepy? Or just the next step in increased synergy between new media and old? I can’t decide, but the Interactive TV Today blog describes in a bit more detail how Google might "overhear" what you’re watching.

[The system] would use a PC microphone to sample the ambient sound emitted by a television set and automatically determine what is being watched on that set from a small signature of that sound. The system would then use the data thus gathered to automatically present the viewer–in real time on his or her Web browser–with contextually relevant information, and with ad-hoc services that would enable social interaction around programming: thus, if the viewer were watching a sporting event, the system might present him or her with an ad-hoc fan forum; and if the viewer were to switch to a movie, it might present him or her with maps of the locales featured in the movie or with a bio of the actor currently appearing on the TV screen.

The system is composed of three distinct components: "a client-side interface, an audio-database server (with mass-media audio statistics), and a social-application Web server," the three scientists write in the paper’s introduction. "The client-side interface samples and irreversibly compresses the viewer’s ambient audio to summary statistics. [Note: the authors note that this irreversible mapping would serve to protect the viewer’s privacy.] These statistics are streamed from the viewer’s personal computer to the audio-database server for identification of the background audio (e.g., ‘Seinfeld’ episode 6101, minute 3:03). The audio database transmits this information to the social-application server, which provides personalized and interactive content back to the viewer."

One more question. How does this relate to Google partnering with Viacom to test sharing ad revenues from web videos? Is there a possible tie-in here? Maybe Google monitors what you’re watching and turns up related web videos? Clips from other shows you might be interested in, from Google’s ad partners?

As new technologies continue to break down the old barriers in the media business — we watch TV on our cell phones, as the saying goes, and make telephone calls through our cable company — there will be new mergers and deals between once-disparate companies as businesses look for new ways to expand their reach and customer base in a transformative media landscape.

Among the most creative and forward-looking companies is, of course, Google — and now they’re getting involved in the satellite radio business as a means of expanding their advertising reach: 

Google and XM Satellite Radio today announced an agreement that hints at the future of not only radio, but also television advertising. Under the terms of the deal the two companies will help each others advertisers reach the other’s audience–including letting Google advertisers place targeted radio spots within XM channels.

Inventory on XM’s non-music channels will be available to Google’sadvertising base through dMarc’s media network (www.dmarc.net). As part of the deal, Google advertisers will be able to reach XM’s millions of subscribers nationwide and XM will have access to Google’s large and small advertisers to offer relevant, targeted messages to their subscribers.

The dMarc platform, acquired by Google in January 2006, simplifies the sales process, scheduling, delivery and reporting of radio advertising, enabling advertisers to more efficiently purchase and track their campaigns on terrestrial radio, and now on XM Satellite Radio. For XM, Google’s technology automatically schedules and inserts advertising across XM’s non-music commercial channels, helping to increase revenue with a wealth of new advertisers, while decreasing the costs previously associated with processing advertisements.

After months of trials, the new platform is now in full production for dMarc advertisers. Google AdWords’ customers will be able to place terrestrial and satellite radio spots when the dMarc platform is integrated into AdWords targeted for fourth quarter of this year. 

Our industry observers tell us that Google is still working on ways to improve the CTR of radio ads, which remain stuck at a disappointing  0%. 

What do you do if you need to get WiFi access in a relatively remote location — say, a distant outbuilding? Waiting for WiMAX might mean waiting a long time in rural areas. Why not just grab an old Primestar dish, a tin can, and some coaxial cable, and rig up your own WiFi antenna?

A student at Walla Walla College explains: 

 It is easy to make a surplus Primestar dish into a highly directional antenna for the very popular IEEE 802.11 wireless networking. The resulting antenna has about 22 db of gain, and is fed with 50 ohm coaxial cable. Usually LMR400 or 9913 low loss cable is used if the source is more than a few feet from the antenna. The range using two of these antennas with a line of sight path is around 10 miles at full bandwidth. I must stress the line of sight part though. Leaves really attenuate the signal.

The "things you need" can be found easily by any aspiring MacGyver:

   1.  A Primestar dish.  (You may use any old dish, but if it is bigger than the Primestar the gain will be higher, and it may not be within the Federal Communications Commission rules for use within the United States.  In fact I have come to find out that there seem to be several different dishes that Primestar used, and I am only sure that the one I used, pictured above, used with the ordinary Wavelan or Airport transceiver card is within the effective radiated power limits given by the FCC.)
   2. A juice can (about 4 inches in diameter and at least 8 inches long).
   3. A chassis mount N connector.
   4. You will also need a "pigtail" connector which has the proprietary Lucent connector (for the PCMCIA card) on one end and an N connector on the other. The pigtail can be obtained from a number of online stores for $35 to $40.

Once assembled, you’ll want to brace the highly directional antenna securely against the wind. 

I drive an old pick-up truck most of the time– a rock-bottom barebones 1996 Mazda B2300 with something like 135,000 miles on it– and when it comes to listening to music I have only three options: AM, FM, or trying once again to dislodge the copy of The Cure’s Disintegration, which has been stuck in the casette player since about 2003.

To put satellite radio or an MP3 player in the poor beleagured truck would be like dressing up a pig in pearls. Why bother?

But for those who drive newer vehicles, an iPod- and satellite-connected vehicle will soon be de rigeur: 

In the latest boost to its dominance in portable music players, Apple Computer Inc. is teaming with General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Mazda Motor Corp. to integrate the iPod into car audio systems.

GM and Ford are the nation’s No. 1 and No. 2 automakers, and the new alliances mean the iconic audio gadget will now be compatible with more than 70 percent of the new 2007 model vehicles sold in the United States, Apple said Thursday….

Demand for built-in satellite radio features has also prompted Ford to expand its relationship with Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. VanDagens said more than 90 percent of Ford and Lincoln Mercury cars will offer satellite radio by the 2008 model year.

What will be truly interesting is the impact that standardized satellite radio availability will do to the market share of local radio stations. They don’t call the peak listening hours "drive time" without reason. As more drivers tune out the radio and tune in their favorite satellite station or MP3 playlist, the over-the-air radio industry will be forced to undergo transformative change– or face the same decline that cable brought to the Big 3 Networks.

Being rocket scientists and all, we couldn’t help but be fascinated by the latest craze lighting up the blogosphere: instructions and videos on how to combine Mentos with Diet Coke to create and launch your own home-made bottle rocket.

This particular launch  is one of the top videos on YouTube, with nearly half a million viewings in the past six weeks:

An explanation on how it’s done can be seen here:

Of course, being rocket scientists (and, for some of us, parents as well) we must provide a caveat– bottlerockets are inherently dangerous, no matter how they’re constructed. We direct you to Newton’s Second Law of Motion for further explanation.

It’s been a long time since I blogged about my enthusiasm for municipal wi-fi, but news from Boston brought the subject back to mind again.

Boston’s plan to create a citywide wireless Internet network entered a new phase yesterday as Mayor Thomas M. Menino named former high-tech executive Pamela Reeve to lead the search for a non profit corporation to build the network.

Reeve, a member of the mayor’s Wireless Task Force and a former chief executive of software company Lightbridge Inc., also will talk to businesses, foundations, universities, and hospitals in an effort to raise between $16 million and $20 million for the project.

The money would be used to blanket city neighborhoods with fiber-optic cable and radio transmitters that would beam WiFi signals, enabling laptops, handheld computers, cell phones, and other portable devices to connect to the Internet at high speeds anywhere in the city.

As noted at GigaOm, this model is unlike any other in blending resources from government, business and non-profits. Can it work? Who knows, but if it does the next step might be to combine it with an idea like One Laptop Per Child movement, but with a domestic focus. Nigeria just ordered (and payed for) 1 million of the wireless-equipped laptops. It could happen in the U.S. too — wi-fi access and low-cost wireless laptops opening up new opportunities for a lot of kids.

And as long as cities are launching wi-fi networks, the might want to consider making them green too.

The technical concept behind the Green Wi-Fi network is fairly simple. Each node in the network consists of a battery-powered router and a solar panel to charge the battery. The nodes are mounted on rooftops, and the network’s Wi-Fi signals are transferred over a grid using a wireless network standard known as 802.11b/g.

The first seed money has arrived, enough to produce and test prototype nodes. It came from the One Laptop Per Child initiative (OLPC), which aims to construct a $100 laptop to be distributed to children in developing countries. OLPC showed immediate interest in the Wi-Fi initiative, Pomerleau said.

If you’re as absent minded as me, you’ve probably left home once or twice without your wallet, but with your mobile phone attached to your hip. Well, in the future forgetting your wallet may not matter so much as long as you have your mobile phone, at least where needing cash on hand is concerned. Your mobile phone may serve as your wallet.

By next year, you’ll be able to pay simply by swiping your cell phone a few inches from a cash register, with a new wireless standard called Near Field Communication.

An NFC chip in your phone will send your credit-card number — stored on your phone or on the chip — by way of short-distance radio waves.

An electronic reader at the checkout will decode the number and ring up your purchase. Unlike radio-frequency identification (RFID) and other existing contactless payment systems, NFC chips allow two-way information exchange by rolling an RF transmitter and reader into one five-millimeter package.

That means the chip can also take in data, such as a receipt zapped to it by a cash register or a bus schedule from a tag embedded in a bus-stop sign.

What’s Near Field Communications? Glad you asked. (And if you didn’t, I did.) This definition includes a handy chart.

But the NFC Forum has the easiest explanation I’ve found.

Near Field Communication (NFC) uses the same principle to link electronic devices. It enables the user to exchange all kinds of information, securely, simply by bringing two devices close together. Its short-range interaction over a few centimeters greatly simplifies the whole issue of identification, as there is less confusion when devices can only "hear" their immediate neighbors.

Evolving from a combination of contactless identification (RFID) and interconnection technologies, NFC technology bridges today’s connectivity gap. It enables the simple transfer of information — from phone numbers to electronic transactions — and allows people to interact with their environment without needing to navigate complicated menus or perform complex set-up procedures.

I wasn’t sure sure what makes that any different than Bluetooth or wi-fi, but apparently it’s a matter of range.

While Bluetooth and Wi-Fi have a range anywhere between 33 feet and 300 feet, NFC deals in inches — eight inches, to be precise. NFC "is designed for shorter distances and lighter content," says Karsten Ottenberg, General Manager of Philips Semiconductors’ Identification unit.

Great. There are only two drawbacks I can think of, and one of them has already been shot down. First, I thought I’d have to buy a new phone, but it turns out simple add-on chips will be available and that they’re pretty inexpensive to produce. That just leaves one problem. Would losing your phone become the same as losing your wallet?

We love the name MobaHO! That exclamation point captures perfectly the exciting potential of satellite digital multimedia broadcasting.

That potential is being realized in Tokyo, as JCN reports: 

Mobile Broadcasting Corporation (mbco) and Sapporo-based taxi company Daikoku Kotsu will introduce MobaHO!, the world’s first satellite digital multimedia broadcasting service for personal and mobile device use, for taxi customers this month.

Taxis are equipped with LCD monitors which come with an internal speaker and are placed on the head rest of the passenger seat.

The service will provide taxi customers with a variety of programs such as real-time news, genre-specific music programs and overseas FM radio through 37 audio channels, and seven video channels including news, sports, and entertainment. All programs include ‘taxi ads’ as well.

This might be a good way of getting rid of excess junk that you have lying around: Send it to space. Earlier this month I posted about the launch of Robert Bigelow’s inflatable spacecraft, Genesis I. Well, via Space Pragmatism comes news of Bigelow’s next big plan. When Genesis II goes up, he’s gonna let you fly your stuff into space, and send you pictures too.

Whereas space was once the domain of only the privileged, Bigelow Aerospace is offering the public an exciting new opportunity to reach the final frontier. For the first time, you can actually send an item of your own into space. Your personal selection will be floating inside a spacecraft hundreds of miles above the Earth. If all systems function properly, your personal treasure (be it a photo, ring, bottle-cap or toy) will be floating in space for years.

And here is the best part: You might even be able to see it. That’s right! The Bigelow Aerospace spacecraft known as Genesis II will be carrying multiple cameras. Some of these cameras will be viewing areas inside the spacecraft where your prized possession is floating. Everyday, Bigelow Aerospace will be downloading images and video from these cameras to its Website. If you log onto the Bigelow Aerospace Web portal, you will have a chance to actually see your item floating by! And who knows? If the Genesis II spacecraft stays in orbit for several years as we expect, you may see your face (or item) many times over!

You can also look inside Genesis and see what’s already gone up (besides NASA’s GeneBox, that is). The picture above, by the way, is a box of Mexican jumping beans sent up in Genesis I by Bigelow Aerospace employees.

For $295 a pop, you can send up anything you want as long as it’s:

• smaller than a golf ball;
• less than 1 oz. in weight;
• doesn’t contain any magnets;
• doesn’t contain power-operated devices, liquid, or powder.

I’m not sure what options that leaves or whether the price beats a similar program from Masten Enterprises, but at least there’s now another way to send more junk into space.

A while ago, I blogged about Microsoft’s foray into Robotics with its Robotics Studio software. Well the Microsoft robotics march continues, but this time the robots are marching on Microsoft due to a bit of synergy with Lego’s own robotics project. Thanks to the toy company, you can build your own robot.

Lego Mindstorms NXT includes LabView software from National Instruments, which lets robot makers program their machines by dragging and dropping icons on the screen instead of writing code. The software works with both Windows XP and recent versions of Mac OS X. Bluetooth wireless signals are supported, so finished robots can be controlled with compatible mobile phones.

The Lego Mindstorms NXT kit, which sells for about $250 and is aimed at children age 10 and older, will arrive in stores early [this] month; it can also be ordered at www.mindstorms.com. The Mindstorms kit includes 519 Lego Technic building blocks; sound, light and touch sensors; a 32-bit microprocessor called the NXT Intelligent Brick, which serves as the robot’s brain; and several motors. Batteries, however, are not included: six AA cells are required.

Lego, it turns out, was a major inspiration in getting Microsoft into the robotics business.

Even a software giant, it seems, has a soft spot for Legos.

"Lego was one of the motivating factors that got this started in the first place," said Tandy Trower, general manager of Microsoft’s robotics initiative, which launched in June. He explained how Lego had told Microsoft about its Mindstorms NXT plans several years ago, even as Trower was beginning to formulate what his group would be like.

Now Microsoft is hoping its robotics suite, which can help people design anything from simple robots to industrial projects, will be seen as an innovative step to getting more people interested in robots. He likens the state of robotics today to that of the early days of PCs.

The synergy with Lego might be great, but here’s a heads-up to Microsoft: Lego’s robots may be marching in your direction, but it looks like some robot enthusiasts are turning to Linux.

To spur more development of robots at the hobbyist level, Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) is promoting a humanoid creature named HRP-2m Choromet. One problem with current robots, AIST says, is that they tend to be little more than remote-controlled devices. Another is that getting beyond that evolutionary stage tends to take a lot of cash.

Choromet, which bears a striking resemblance to the Transformers character Optimus Prime, comes with programmable software that runs on Linux. It was developed by General Robotix, one of two start-ups working under AIST together with Pirkus Robotix and Dai Nippon Technical Research Institute. The controller, which is driven in real time by AIST’s ArtLinux, was developed by Moving Eye, the other start-up in the group

I dunno. Sure, Choromet looks cool. But I’m thinking that Lego robot with the Swiffer attachment (pictured above) would be a lot handier around the house.