Coldstreams Internet of Things

Coldstreams Internet of Things Blog

Business

“Open office” floor plans decrease interaction, may lower productivity

Many companies have moved from individual offices or cubicles to open floor spaces, removing doors and presumed barriers to interaction.

A study that tracked workers before conversion to open offices, and after the conversion, found that open offices dramatically reduced employee face to face interaction – in favor of instant messaging and email. The latter, however, have been shown to reduce productivity.

Bottom line: open office layouts are failing to achieve improved interaction – and are actually making interaction worse.

 

Privacy

Continued: Venmo lies about their priority of privacy

Venmo declined to say why it makes full public disclosure the default setting, but a company spokesperson told CNNMoney that “the safety and privacy of Venmo users and their information is one of our highest priorities.” Source: A researcher studied a year of public Venmo transactions. Here’s what she learned That’a a lie, as I showed 5 weeks ago: Someone entered my email address for their account at Venmo. Month’s ago. Apparently Venmo NEVER VERIFIED...

Business / Emerging Technology / Security / Spying

Microsoft urges regulation of face-recognizing tech

When face recognition is used to gain access to a secure location or function, what happens when one’s likeness is stolen and reproduced? What happens when the local police monitor all political rallies and use facial recognition to identify each individual in attendance? What if businesses scan your face upon entry and dynamically change prices based on their estimates of your income and wealth? Microsoft’s chief legal officer on Friday called for regulation of facial...

Innovation

Ham radio emergency communications influenced Jack Kilby, inventor of the integrated circuit

When a blizzard knocked out lines and plunged his father’s customers into darkness in 1937, young Jack watched as his dad enlisted local hams to coordinate repairs. That so much could be accomplished so quickly by the amateur radio operators left an impression on Jack, and electronics became another passion for him. Source: Profiles in Science: Jack Kilby and the Integrated Circuit | Hackaday

Business / Privacy / Spying

#Google’s #Android was developed first and foremost as a spying tool, may be sanctioned by the European Union

For Google, the consequences could prove vast. Packaging tools like search, and including them on Android devices, offers the company a way to capture data about users — and show them more ads. Eliminating that pathway for profits and insight could prompt Google to rethink the entire ecosystem for Android, which it licenses to device makers free in a bid to ensure its wide-scale adoption while warding off such competitors as Apple. Source: Google could...

Privacy / Smart Phones

How your phone is used to track you as you move through a store

Ultrasound “beacons” are set up in various locations such as within stores. Apps that run on smart phones are constantly listening for ultrasound beacons (which are emitted above the audible range so we cannot hear them). Each beacon can encode a unique ID to be used to determine proximity to a specific location. In some cases, ultrasound or other types of audible signals can be embedded in television or audio programming and apps can detect...

Drones / Policy / Wireless

Many #quadcopter #FPV television video transmitters are not legal #drones

Anyone who has looked anywhere online – Youtube videos or just perusing online stores for model aircraft parts – has seen devices for sending video signals from a model aircraft. Most of the ones I see are not legal and do not comply with FCC rules in the U.S. Many, if not most, of the devices that advertise “500mw” or “800mw” or “1200mw” and so on, are not legal devices, as used by most FPV...

Drones

Regulations inhibiting beneficial advances of UAS technology #drones #quadcopters

regulations in many countries prevent drones from fulfilling their potential by blocking their access to airspace. …. To address these challenges, the World Economic Forum, the international organization for public-private cooperation, has created the Drone Innovators Network as a platform to bring together pioneering aviation authorities to share research, best practices and innovative new policies. Source: Drones for Humanity: Forum Initiative Aims Unlock Societal Benefits of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles – Modern Diplomacy

Drones / Policy

FAA restrictions may make flying difficult or impossible for many #drones #quadcopters

We have been looking at different areas around the western U.S. for possible relocation and retirement. Looking at Walla Walla, WA, I was surprised to see this large restricted area around the Walla Walla Regional Airport, extending from the surface upwards, and about 7.4 miles southwest to 13.4 miles northeast of the airport and for about 4.4 miles either side of the airport – and astounding 183 square miles of controlled airspace over a rural...

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