SEBASTIAN SAN JUAN

¿Se puede igualar la capacidad de procesamiento que tiene un cerebro humano? Por el momento la respuesta a esta pregunta es negativa y es que en IBM tienen a un equipo de investigadores intentando simular la capacidad del cerebro y hasta el momento sólo han podido simular el 4,5% de este. Donde la tecnología si puede batir a lo humano es en la capacidad de almacenamiento de información, donde las computadoras tienen mucha mayor capacidad que el cerebro de los humanos, sin embargo este pasa por encima, y por mucho, en su capacidad de procesamiento de la información.

Quizá podemos pensar que IBM está tratando de hacer esta simulación con unos cuantos ordenadores potentes, pero nada más lejos de la realidad. El equipo de investigadores está utilizando la friolera de 147.456 procesadores, los cuales funcionan en paralelo unos con los otros. Para tener una mayor idea de la capacidad de procesamiento, cada uno de los procesadores tiene una potencia equivalente a la de un ordenador personal con un gigabyte de memoria.

Todos estos procesadores están funcionando en un superordenador llamado Blue Gene y con estos, tan sólo han sido capaces de simular una capacidad de procesamiento inferior al cinco por ciento del cerebro humano.

Con la actual capacidad de procesamiento si se puede igualar la que tienen los cerebros de algunos animales, para igualar la capacidad del cerebro de un ratón son necesarios 512 procesadores, para la de una rata hacen falta 2048 y para la de un gato la cifra aumenta hasta los 24.576 procesadores. Este último es el nuevo record logrado por estos investigadores, aunque todavía están muy lejos de igualar al del cerebro humano. Desde IBM estiman que para poder simular completamente la capacidad que tiene el cerebro humano serán necesarios la escalofriante cifra de unos 800.000 procesadores, cifra a la que esperan llegar en el año 2019.

El trabajo que están realizando estos investigadores nos da una muy buena idea de la gran capacidad que tienen nuestros cerebros y que, seguramente, muchos de nosotros no sacamos completamente el mejor rendimiento de este. Probablemente una de las cosas más difíciles de lograr es concentrar esa capacidad y saber emplearla de forma correcta. Ahí están los debates entorno a cuanto porcentaje usamos de nuestro cerebro, sea la cifra que sea, nos tenemos que preocupar la forma en la que lo usamos.

The USDA’s National Agricultural Library (NAL) announced that its Agricultural Thesaurus is now available as Linked Open Data, making possible connections with data from other agricultural databases. The ability to easily connect information from multiple sources could be a major step towards improving agricultural research, allowing for greater opportunities to understand interconnections.

The thesaurus and glossary are online agricultural vocabulary tools listing over 80,000 terms updated yearly. By “semantically linking” the data, information can be searched throughout member databases of the Agricultural Information and Documentation Service of the Americas such as the USDA and the Mexican Network of Agricultural Libraries.  An international network of agricultural libraries also exists worldwide through the Food and Agriculture Organization.

A commitment toward an Open Government Initiative began with President Obama’s administration, and resulted in Data.gov. As part of the initiative, government data, like information collected by the Department of Agriculture, will become increasingly open to public scrutiny. Additionally, tools to “increase the ability of the public to easily find, download, and use datasets that are generated and held by the Federal Government” are being created. The linking of terminology within the NALT is part of that initiative.

A search for the term “meal” for example, turns up a list of 8 related terms, searchable immediately by clicking on the provided links to google scholar, and AGRICOLA books and articles. By integrating a single word with all its related terms, a search for an idea then becomes not just a “key word,” but a concept in context.

“The thesaurus is primarily used for indexing and for improving retrieval of agricultural information,” says the NALT website.  “Currently, the thesaurus is the indexing vocabulary for the National Agricultural Library’s bibliographic database of citations to agricultural resources,AGRICOLA. The Food Safety Research Information Office (FSRIO) and Agricultural Network Information Center (AgNIC)also use the NALT as the indexing vocabulary for their information systems. In addition, the NALT is used as an aid for locating information at the Agricultural Research Service,Economic Research Service and AgNIC web sites and databases.”

Con un Obelisco multicolor. Así va a recibir el Centro Metropolitano de Diseño al público que asista, a partir del viernes, a uno de los encuentros más importantes para los diseñadores que se organiza en la Capital: el Festival Internacional de Diseño 2011, que tendrá como sede principal el distrito pensado especialmente para la actividad, pero también habrá propuestas en distintos puntos de la Ciudad.

Del 28 al 30 de octubre, la consigna será imaginar cómo será la Buenos Aires del futuro, por medio de exposiciones, conferencias, talleres o instalaciones. Es por eso que, justo en un espacio donde se busca fomentar la creatividad, habrá charlas (con inscripción previa), en las cuales van a participar especialistas de diversas disciplinas, como urbanistas, expertos en movilidad o referentes barriales y sociales.

Pero eso es apenas una parte de lo que hay en la agenda del evento. Por ejemplo, están programadas conferencias dirigidas a profesionales, una exposición sobre la evolución de la bicicleta, un encuentro sobre tecnología, muestras fotográficas referidas a la Ciudad y hasta un taller de diseño, pensado para chicos de 5 a 12 años, que tiene el apoyo del Centro Cultural Nómade de la Fundación Proa.

Como les conté al principio, aunque gran parte de la programación será en el edificio de Barracas, también habrá una invitación a recorrer los barrios porteños. Se trata de tres bicicleteadas, que tienen como objetivo redescubrir la arquitectura de los lugares emblemáticos de Palermo Viejo, Colegiales, Villa Ortúzar, Chacarita, La Boca y, como no puede ser de otra manera, todo el entorno de Barracas.

La dirección es Algarrobo 1041, con entrada libre y gratuita. Pueden llegar con los transportes gratuitos que habrá el sábado y domingo de 12 a 20 desde el Teatro Colón (cada hora y media), en bicicleta propia o del sistema público de alquiler y a través de distintos colectivos como el 12, que estrenará unos carteles informativos que buscan ser más útiles para los pasajeros. Como para mostrar que el diseño nos puede simplificar la vida, ¿no?

Foto: Centro Metropolitano de Diseño

Si hace unas horas comenté en Google + que un nuevo mensaje aparecía al querer editar el perfil en Blogger, ahora Google confirma lo que muchos ya imaginaban: Blogger se integra con Google Plus.

La noticia aparece en buzz.blogger.com, donde comentan que el perfil de Blogger será el de Google +, evitando tener dos identidades diferentes para una misma red, la red de Google.

Nuestros contactos en la red social verán nuestros posts en sus resultados de las búsquedas con una nota indicando que el artículo ha sido compartido por nosotros, ayudando a personalizar los resultados devueltos por google.com.

Si nuestro blog está registrado bajo un apodo, la integración de momento no funcionará, motivo por el cual la opción de la integración es opcional.

Podéis integrar los perfiles en draft.blogger.com, estando accesible a todos en www.blogger.com durante las próximas semanas.

Prometen realizar algunas integraciones más en el futuro, estaremos atentos.

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Patrocinan WWWhatsnew: Vuelos Baratos, Teambox, Wix – Crea páginas de Fan en Facebook y Velneo.

Hospedado en RedCoruna

Updated: Google has contacted us and confirmed that the video is indeed real.

"Oops, you weren’t supposed to see that," Google's Andrea Freund said. "Stay tuned, we’ll be sharing more info on Gmail’s new look soon."

A new video has surfaced on YouTube that runs through a newly redesigned version of Google's mail service Gmail.

Gmail's new look

Gmail now looks similar to Google's redesigned version of Google Docs. It has brighter colors and a more industrial design when compared to today's version of Gmail.

New look for Gmail conversations

Google has also redesigned how the site presents conversations. Each tab is larger and features a profile picture as well as a longer preview of the message.

Change the look and feel

You can now change the design of the mail Gmail layout between three versions: comfortable, cozy, and compact. Each one jams the messages more closely together than the last, with the "compact" mode looking the most similar to the original Gmail.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

Please follow SAI: Tools on Twitter and Facebook.

See Also:

• 7 Things Googlers Just Taught Us About The Magic Behind Google Maps
• Take A Look At Instapaper's Fancy New Makeover
• 25 Secret iOS 5 Features You Need To Know About

 

In honor of the first national Food Day, a day dedicated to bringing people across the United States together to push for food system reform, Food+Tech Connect is highlighting 5 innovative ways technology is being used to improve access to fresh, local food.

The following selection of  online marketplaces and management tools exemplify how user centered design, visualizing impact, and crowdsourcing are being successfully used to help small producers distribute and market their products.

 

Farmigo is an online marketplace for consumers to find, select, and receive fresh food from local farms and producers delivered direct to convenient pick-up locations. Each farm and producer listed in the marketplace receives an Internet based logistics management system to track harvest, packing, routes, and member payment. Farmigo is making the CSA (community supported agriculture) model more sustainable and scaleable, which is no easy feat considering the challenges- high subscription turnover and lower rates of new technology adoption on the farm.  Their product does an excellent job of meeting the needs of both farmers and consumers through intuitive user experience and a knowledgeable support and customer service team.

 

 

Market Mobile is a Farm-to-Biz online ordering platform sourcing fresh food from 40 family farms and local producers across RI, MA and CT. Market Mobile does an excellent job of communicating the economic impact of their services on the local food ecosystem with a weekly data visualization. The visualization offers crucial data for anyone trying to access potential market size and demand  in the North East.

 

FoodHub is a online directory and marketplace that makes it easy and efficient for wholesale food buyers and sellers in the Western US to research, connect, and do business. More than just a marketplace, the platform provides a plethora of tools and educational resources for users to learn best practices for marketing and distributing their products.

 

 

Foodzie is an online marketplace where people can discover and buy food directly from small passionate food producers and growers. Like the Etsy for food, Foodzie’s platform empowers food artisans to market and sell their products. Their monthly Tasting Box makes it easy for even the most indecisive to try new things.

 

 

AmpleHarvest.org is a platform that enables gardeners to donate their excess harvest to the needy in their community instead of allowing it to rot in the garden. AmpleHarvest.org capitalizes on the fast-growing gardening movement across the United States to crowdsource better, healthier food for food pantries.

 

 

Last week saw the latest release of Instapaper, a service for saving web pages for reading later. It seems like a simple thing, but Instapaper has embedded itself into my life surprisingly deeply, and is a must-have for folks who find themselves with dozens of tabs in their browser of articles they want to read, but don't quite have the time for right now. Instapaper also proves quite instructive of how to deliver great experiences.

Given my love of the service, what I find most inspiring is that it is essentially the creation of one person, Marco Arment. Originally begun as a side project while he was the CTO of Tumblr, about a year ago he decided to focus on it full-time. I'm guessing Instapaper began as one of those, "I want to use something that does this, there's nothing out there, so I will just make it," projects. 

As an Instapaper user, I feel Marco's love and care throughout my use of the service, and I think it suggests an opportunity to approach interaction and service design as a craft. This is exemplified in the use of helpful prompts that guide your use of the tool, providing functionality before you even knew you wanted it. My favorite example of this on iPhone and iPad is when I "copy link" from Safari or my RSS reader, and then open the Instapaper app. Most apps would have you paste the link into a field in order to save it for later. Instapaper, though, pops up a dialog the moment you open the app, with a one-click choice to save that URL to read later.

It sees that you're bringing a URL over, and reasonably believes you want to act on it. It's a small thing, but so helpful, and indicative of the care in the app's design. Other such prompts include an offer to "Return to Position" if you (perhaps accidentally) tap the top bar (which causes the page to scroll to the top), or an offer to turn on pagination if, on the iPad, you use a swipe gesture (as opposed to vertical scroll).

Instapaper shows the power of approaching experience design as a craft, as opposed to some kind of massive organizational process. It demonstrates the power of the small team. Or, as Marco shows, even a team of one. And, as Marco hones his craft, he is able to evolve the experience over time. Too often companies launch something and then move on to whatever's next. Instapaper shows what happens when you go deeper and deeper and deeper into something. Unlike Microsoft or Adobe, who simply tack on features with every new release, Marco, instead, refines the design, honing it, polishing it, like his app is some jewel. I'd love to see companies approach service design the way Marco has. It would require a fundamental shift in how they work, but the results could be quite beautiful.

 

A short while ago I was involved in a project redesigning a home page of a website. I dutifully designed the page in the common fashion, using a bold headline, some bullet points, and a juicy call-to-action button. It was very similar to many of the startup home pages that you might run across every day.

The goal of the redesign was to increase conversion on the primary call to action of sign-up. We wanted to double or triple (or more) the number of people who were signing up and trying out the product.

I knew the redesign was a vast improvement over the existing one, merely because the page better communicated what was going on. Instead of a vague headline that wasn’t communicating value to readers I used a much more descriptive one that helped orient people immediately to have some idea of what the site does. And the button…well let’s just say that it was so hot it made you want to click it.

So we launched, and then we looked at the data. Uh Oh. No big increase in conversion, certainly not enough to change the business. The conversion rate had improved about 20%, which is OK, but the rate itself was so low to have very little effect on the company’s bottom line.

What was wrong? Why wasn’t there a big improvement in conversion? Why was our click-through so low on what was obviously the primary call-to-action? Didn’t we follow all of the visual design rules here? Make headline big and bold. Check. Make a bullet list of important points. Check. Make a beautiful, sexy button that looks like it was born to be clicked. Check.

Why then, were people not clicking the sexy button?

It’s at this point when you have to step back and ask yourself: what exactly is design? Is design creating something for creation sake? We certainly had done that, and we had already done as much work as is done on most redesign projects. Most projects would have launched and been done…when redesign is the goal the launch is the end.

But that’s not what passes as good design these days. Good design is design that works. So to honestly assess the redesign I did I had to admit…this design was still not working.

Damn was that hard to admit. Really, really hard to admit. I hated admitting it because it was an admission that I failed. I’ve not often admitted that on projects in the past that just didn’t get the usage that I wanted. In so many cases it was easier to say to myself that what I did was better than what was there before and the work of launching was enough. It is so easy to confuse getting stuff done with doing good work.

Yet, this admission also allowed me to see the problem more clearly. Once I accepted that the redesign still wasn’t working, I created the opportunity to find out why not. See that interesting little trick I pulled there? Failure is an opportunity to problem solve! We all love to problem solve, right?

So in hindsight the answer is obvious…people weren’t clicking “Sign Up” because they were not ready to. They saw the button and did not care enough to click it. I could have made it flashing big-ass and red, but still nobody would have clicked on it.

No visual design wizardry at this point would have improved things. No matter how much we tweak the call-to-action, we’re not going to significantly improve click-through on it. We’re not fighting an attention war here…we have people’s attention because they’re on our website. No, we’re fighting an emotional war. We need to convince people of the value of what we’re offering enough so they actually care. They are aware that our big-ass honking button is there…how could they not be? We made it impossible to miss! in fact they’ve read the text on it that says “Sign-up for Free”. They can barely get it out of their peripheral vision…

No, our visitors can see clearly…they’re not failing to notice the button. And they can read…they can see what the button says. They’re also not obstinate…they’re not doing this just to spite you.

The hard fact is that they just don’t care.

Or more precisely, they don’t care yet. They’re interested, but they do not know enough to care. We have not given them enough of a reason to care. They are not ready to take that step.

So the right answer in this situation is not to give our call-to-action a stronger drop shadow, double its text size, make it fire engine red (#CE1620), or make it blink. No amount of visual design on that button will make people click it more. The right answer is to remove the button altogether and replace it with something that people do want to click. Something they do want to do…the appropriate next step in their lifecycle as a customer.

I call this Designing for the Next Step. And in my next post I will explain what I’m talking about in much more detail…

Addendum: The folks at Zurb have published an example of a 350% improvement from simply burying the sign-up button. That’s some serious improvement.

The Social Media Infographics Series is supported by Vocus‘ Social Media Strategy Tool, a free, six-step online tool that lets you build a custom social media framework tailored to your organization’s goals.

You likely know that Facebook is the world’s largest social network with more than 800 million users, but did you know that more than 250 million photos are uploaded every single day? Or that the average American spends seven hours and 46 minutes browsing her friends’ profiles per month?

Facebook has become an integral part of our lives — some people more than others. It’s where we learn what our friends are doing, who they’re dating and even what they’re listening to.

We wanted to dive deeper into the Facebook phenomenon, so we collected some stats about the social network and put them together in one infographic. Check out what makes Facebook tick (and what celebrity is the king of Facebook with 47+ million fans) below.

Infographic designed by Emily Caufield.

This series is supported by Vocus‘ Social Media Strategy Tool, a free online tool which lets you build your own custom social media framework in six easy steps. It helps you determine your organization’s goals, explore the latest MarketingSherpa research data, and create your own workbook packed with the strategies, tactics and resources you need. Try it today!

More About: Facebook, features, infographics, mashable, Mashable Infographics, Social Media, Social Media Infographics Series

Shared by Mauro A. Fuentes - Fotomaf
Infografías de alimentos.. Burgers, pintxos, Sushi... :D vía @tecnoyonki...

L' Esstudi es un estudio catalán especializado en branding, packaging y motion graphics, todos sus trabajos están repletos de color y hechos con muy buen gusto.

Han elaborado unas infografías con los alimentos más característicos de 5 grandes ciudades; El sushi en Japón, las pizza en Nápoles, las hamburguesas en Nueva York, los pintxos en Donosti y los sandwiches en Londes.

Además muestran las muchas variedades del plato que se consiguen mezclando ingredientes y de paso te da ideas sobre acompañamiento y bebida para cada alimento :)






Vía: Creadictos

The Social Media Infographics Series is supported by Vocus‘ Social Media Strategy Tool, a free, six-step online tool that lets you build a custom social media framework tailored to your organization’s goals.

In many cases, money is a key fertilizer for startup growth. Many startups, and many more small businesses, fund themselves through traditional bank loans. Others exchange portions of their companies for an influx of cash.

This type of startup funding, known for its high-risk, high-reward nature, is an interesting game to keep track of — and there are entire publications dedicated solely to doing just that. But it can also be hard for outsiders to put it into perspective or understand the insider jargon. The infographic below takes a broad look at the numbers and lingo behind startup funding.

Infographic design by David Foster

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Series supported by Vocus

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This series is supported by Vocus‘ Social Media Strategy Tool, a free online tool which lets you build your own custom social media framework in six easy steps. It helps you determine your organization’s goals, explore the latest MarketingSherpa research data, and create your own workbook packed with the strategies, tactics and resources you need. Try it today!

More About: features, funding, infographic, mashable, Mashable Infographics, Social Media Infographics Series, venture capital

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A year and a half ago, we released completely new document, spreadsheet and drawing editors. Google Docs has been picking up speed ever since with more than 60 new features and millions of new users. Today we’re rounding out the suite by previewing a new version of presentations with faster collaboration and more features.

A collaborative approach
Presentations are made to be shared—whether it’s presenting your thesis to your professors or inspiring colleagues at a conference. And the best presentations are made together, collaborating with others to build a compelling story that captivates your audience. Creating presentations together is easy because you can:

• See exactly what others are working on with colorful presence markers
• Edit with your team members simultaneously from different locations
• Use revision history to see who made changes or to revert to earlier versions
• Say hello, start a conversation or share new ideas using built-in chat

More than 50 new features
In the new presentations, we’ve added many of your most requested features, including:

• Transitions to move between slides with simple fades or spicier 3D effects
• Animations to add emphasis or to make your slides more playful
• New themes to create beautiful presentations with distinct visual styles
• Drawings to build new designs, layouts, and flowcharts within a presentation
• Rich tables with merged cells and more options for adding style to your data

What’s next
We’re gradually rolling out the new presentations. To get an early start, click on the gear icon in your document list, and select Document settings. Then, from the editing tab, check the box to “Create new presentations using the latest version of the presentation editor.”

Many of the new features were built using technologies that are only available in modern browsers. If you’re using an older browser you’ll be able to view, but not edit, the new presentations.

With today’s launch, the Google Docs suite is now built on a single, solid foundation. Now that the groundwork is in place, you can expect more useful and collaborative features, delivered faster than ever before.

Posted by Steven Saviano, Software Engineer

Iba a titular este post “las páginas web no deberían existir”, para que vean lo extremo que soy en este pensamiento anti-nube. Luego pensé otro título, más agresivo y marketinero “El Cloud Computing es una idea estúpida”; a lo mejor debí suavizarlo poniendo “El Cloud Computing, a mí, me parece, es una mala idea: a mí no me gusta”, por las dudas que venga alguien a quejarse de los títulos que le pongo a mis posts. Además, en última instancia, les doy a ustedes la oportunidad de decir que la alternativa al cloud computing que les quiero presentar les parece más estúpida aún.
Pero la idea sigue siendo la misma, sin importar el título. En un post anterior sobre la ineficiencia informática les adelantaba un poco el tema:

Es que ya el concepto de página web es un uso ineficiente de la informática. Piénsenlo: están en una página web cualquiera, por ejemplo, este mismo blog, y quieren pasar a la página 2 para leer los artículos más viejos, y ¿qué viaja desde mi servidor hasta sus computadoras? ¿El texto del nuevo artículo solamente? ¡No! Viaja la página entera, el código HTML entero de la nueva página, que es exactamente igual a la anterior, salvo por el texto del nuevo artículo. No viaja sólo la información, viaja toda la página, salvo alguna imagen o pequeña cosita que está en tu caché. (creo que ni en sitios que hacen uso intensivo de ajax como Gmail te salvás de esto). ¡Un desperdicio!

¿Se entiende? Ahí comienza mi problema. En la mayoría de los casos, los datos son menos del 5% del código de la página web (me inventé esta estadística, pero no debo estar muy lejos del porcentaje real). Cuando entrás a gmail, se baja más de 1,2 MB de página web y menos de 100 kb de información. Este post que están leyendo, por ejemplo, sin contar las imágenes, “ocupa” apenas 11 kb. En una informática más eficiente, sólo debería viajar por la red la nueva información, y ya que estamos, siempre encriptada. Tal vez un XML o JSON en vez de HTML, que tenga unos pocos tags indicando qué parte se actualiza. El resto de la página, el diseño (css + html), el comportamiento (javascript) y las imágenes deberían estar permanentemente guardadas en la computadora y sólo modificarse en caso de que haya cambiado (rediseño del sitio). Básicamente lo que sucede con cualquier programa de escritorio que se baja información de internet.

Pero una vez que lográs eso, ¿por qué parar? ¿Qué sentido tiene hacer una página web para leer el correo electrónico o ver un mapa cuando podés tener un programa? ¿Por qué hacer la gran applicatinception de usar un programa adentro de otro programa (Gmail dentro de Chrome).

Las páginas web tenían sentido cuando recién empezaba internet, cuando las páginas eran sólo texto, y el código html era un pequeño porcentaje de la página. Ahora para ver 2 kb de texto de un mensaje hay que bajarse casi 2 MB que pesan gmail.com o facebook.com. Además, por mucho ajax y javascript, las cosas tardan más en una página que en una aplicación. Aunque no lo notemos, porque estamos acostumbrados.

Yo entiendo que exista el Cloud Storing, mi problema es con las webapps, el SaaS… está bien que mi aplicación “Windows Gmail” envíe información a la nube, para tenerla a mano desde cualquier lugar… pero que la procese en MI computadora, que para eso tiene 8 núcleos ó 4 ó 16. ¿Por qué necesitamos hacer algo tan rebuscado como el ajax cuando los programas de escritorio hacen lo mismo pero mucho mejor? ¿Por qué mi aplicación tiene que correr en un servidor de EEUU, y mi información tiene que viajar hasta allá?

Y la culpa de todo esto es de Google. Una empresa que como nació en la Internet de los años 90, quiere que toda la informática se mueva al patio de atrás de su enorme mansión. Todo porque su plan de negocio depende 100% de adsense y adwords; y en vez de haber inventado una versión “de escritorio” de su adsense, para que los programadores pudieran usarlo en sus programas… forzó a toda la industria informática a hacer web apps. Si hasta Microsoft tuvo que hacer una versión online (que nadie usa) de  Office, su barco insignia. Google quiere que nuestras computadoras, en pleno año 2015, sean únicamente unos thin clients (clientes tontos) con procesadores Pentium IV y 512 MB de RAM que para lo único que sirvan sea para conectarse a sus servidores y bajarse el resultado de esas webapps que crea para nosotros. Que nada de nuestra información se guarde en nuestros discos rígidos, no quiere que tengamos discos rígidos, que esté todo en sus granjas de servidores (y si es en texto plano fácilmente accesible para ellos, mucho mejor).

No nos engañemos. No usamos la aplicación web gmail.com porque nos dimos cuenta de que era lo mejor para nosotros, la usamos porque no existe gmail.exe.

Mi propuesta: SO transportable. Tu propia nube de datos. Computación distribuida.

Imaginen por un momento que, en una realidad alterna a la nuestra, en 1999 la burbuja .com fue tan dura que durante los próximos 15 años nadie, absolutamente nadie quizo iniciar un proyecto online otra vez. Eso llevó a que en ese mundo paralelo, hoy en día estemos usando una informática personalizada que es resultado de la unión de esos tres conceptos.

Así es la Informática del 2011 que usan William Bell y Walternativo en sus oficinas de las Torres Gemelas de la Tierra del Mundo Paralelo que yo imagino:

El Sistema Operativo que usamos y personalizamos según nuestros gustos, con los programas que le instalamos, los íconos, el fondo de pantalla que le elegimos y todo lo demás se encuentra en una pequeña “tarjeta OS“, como un pendrive usb que podemos quitar fácilmente de la PC y llevarla a otro lado (no necesariamente sería la única copia del OS, podrían existir una copia original y otra, sincronizada, que iría en esta tarjeta). Podemos ir con esta tarjeta a cualquier otra computadora, introducirla en su ranura “lectora de OS” y de repente “nuestro” SO toma el control de esa computadora, de su hardware, y nos permite trabajar en ella como si estuviéramos en casa. O si les parece mucho llevar todo el OS ahí, sólo llevarías los programas “portables” y un “modificador” de la apariencia del SO de dicha máquina, para que quede como lo usamos en casa. Y no importa si perdemos dicha tarjeta, es barata, no tiene información comprometedora y si la tuviera, estaría codificada.

Las páginas web no existen en este universo, la Word Wide Web dejó de existir en 2002, cuando se dieron cuenta de que ya no era capaz de ofrecer todo lo que se le pedía; y antes de forzarla, decidieron abandonarla por algo más eficiente: sólo existen programas (la utopía contraria y opuesta a Google Chrome OS). Programas que se inter-relacionan estrechamente entre sí, compartiendo información y recursos. Estos programas pueden enviar y recibir información, encriptada siempre, por internet. Pero no lo hacen contra un servidor en EEUU propiedad de Google, sino con TU propio servidor en casa. Este servidor no es más que tu computadora principal, común y corriente, con algún que otro hardware redundante (para no quedarte offline o perder datos). El disco rígido de la computadora de Walternativo tiene (como las de toda la gente de esta Tierra paralela) un sistema RAID y uno de Backups automáticos (dos cosas que nuestras computadoras podrían tener, pero carecen por defecto) Hay también, si se quiere, empresas que ofrecen el servicio de servidores redundantes, algo parecido a lo que hace Google acá en nuestro universo, o sea que nuestros datos estarían en nuestro servidor y también en el de ellos, completamente sincronizados (como posiblemente tenga tus datos Google, en un par de servidores redundantes). El precio de dicho servicio es ínfimo, o a cambio de publicidad (como hace Google en nuestro universo). De todas formas, los datos más inmediatos y de uso directo están disponibles offline (dentro de tu tarjeta OS) y se sincronizan apenas ponés la tarjeta de nuevo en tu PC, como hacen los celulares acá en la Tierra 2 (si, el de ellos es el universo original, nosotros somos la copia defectuosa). Cada uno tiene su propia nube en casa, familiar, o en la oficina, profesional. No necesitamos realmente a Google. Nuestros datos no necesitan realmente viajar hasta EEUU ida y vuelta, al descubierto y sin seguridad alguna.

Las páginas web allá no existen. Son programas. Las web-apps no existen, son simplemente apps. Lo único que viaja por internet son los datos que compartimos, en el único caso que una aplicación viaja por internet es en el momento de actualización y ni siquiera es la aplicación entera la que se descarga, sólo la parte a actualizar. Google es una pequeña barrita junto al menú inicio. Wikipedia es Encarta 2011. Youtube es VNC. Facebook y Twitter son iguales a cualquier “cliente” de Twitter o Facebook de los que tenemos acá. No existe Twitter.com, pero sí existe TweetDeck. Flickr.com es Flickr.exe. Tienen un programa visor de documentos muy popular, que recibe los datos de distintas fuentes de internet y los muestra (algo parecido a un navegador web nuestro), con la diferencia de que el diseño de las “páginas” lo definís vos y es uniforme a todos los documentos, sin importar qué “página” estés viendo. Wikipedia, clarin.com, google reader, los blogs, los resultados de google… todo se ve igual, justo como a vos te gusta, con TUS colores, con TU tipo de letra, con TU fondo. El diseño es personalizado, individualizado. Los “diseñadores web” allá tienen otro trabajo, en vez de diseñar una página en particular para una empresa cliente particular, diseñan “themes” y los venden a miles de personas, que los usan en sus “firefox”, configurándolos según sus gustos. Walternativo por ejemplo, compró 5 diseños, que aplica a su SO según si quiere trabajar, leer noticias serias o divertirse. Cuando él está serio, y trabajando, el diseño de toda su computadora se vuelve acorde; y cuando está alegre y con ganas de ocio también el diseño entero de su Sistema Operativo, su lector de documentos firefox y el resto de sus programas, se adaptan.

Los datos de internet, la información, es distribuida casi en su totalidad, en el universo de William Bell. Si vos tenés un blog, muy posiblemente esos datos estén en TU computadora-servidor. Sino, se sube a “La Nube”. Pero allá “la nube” es muy distinta a lo que entendemos acá cuando decimos eso. ¡Allá realmente es una nube! Un conjunto caótico de partículas indistinguibles, si, de paquetes P2P anónimos. La computadora de Walternativo, como la de todas las personas del mundo, destina todo el tiempo parte de su ancho de banda y almacenamiento a compartir “un pedazo de La Nube”. En ella están todos los archivos de internet que no tienen su propio servidor. Empresas como Clarinativo.com prefieren tener sus propios servidores de noticias-datos, a los cuales todos los usuarios acceden. Pero por ejemplo, “Wikipernativa” está completamente en esta Nube P2P y no necesita donaciones para mantenerse. No es de nadie. Y es de todos. Físicamente no está en los servidores de ninguna empresa y está en las computadoras de todos. Realmente le pertenece a toda la Humanidad.

En un próximo artículo, detallaré una comparación entre la informática de nuestro universo y la de este universo hipotético. Demostraré que esta idea evita todos los defectos del Cloud Computing, que no puede ser blanco de las mismas críticas y que los beneficios son mayores que los de “la nube” que nos quieren vender. De todas formas, responderé a cualquier duda o crítica que dejen en los comentarios de este post. Yo sé que no soy ningún Steve Jobs y que mis locas ideas sobre la informática no le interesan a nadie, ni van a revolucionar el mundo tecnológico de nuestro universo; pero eso no me impide sacarme las ganas en este blog de compartirlas con ustedes, mis queridos amigos virtuales y leer sus opiniones.Posts relacionados:

• Eficiencia Informática, software inflado y Ley de Wirth
• Descargar Google Chrome OS para probar
• Idea: Google DataBase
• Idea: Proyecto Dante
• Matías Zaldarriaga: Descubriendo el universo – TEDxBA

The local food movement is taking the world by storm, as more people learn about the numerous benefits of eating locally.

What exactly is local food? Is it hype? In a word, no. It’s grown nearby, and supports your local economy. It tastes better because your food is often harvested on the day of purchase. It’s healthier, as local crops are designed to taste good rather than spend weeks in transit and on store shelves. Plus, eliminating that long trip fights climate change.

If you’re interested in learning more about sustainable farming practices, there are plenty of online resources — and even mobile apps — that can make eating environmentally sustainable food easy. If you’re already connected with the local food movement, you can share your expertise with online communities hoping to create extensive databases of farms, shops, butchers, bakers and restaurants.

In honor of World Food Day (Oct. 16), Mashable is participating in Blog Action Day, which is seeking to create an online global conversation about food issues. We’ve chosen to contribute by sparking a discussion of local farming. We hope this post opens your eyes to ways you can connect with the local food movement, by making your daily food consumption more environmentally and economically sustainable.

Are you a subscriber to the local food movement? Please let us know in the comments if you know of other ways to connect online.

1. Wholeshare

Wholeshare makes purchasing locally grown food up to 20% more affordable through the power of group buying. Groups of shoppers are automatically joined together by the site and treated like a wholesale client. The site, functioning as the middleman, coordinates delivery directly to your door.

Click here to view this gallery.

Image courtesy of flickr user wasd38

More About: blog action day, blogging, Local Food, Social Good

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• Follow Mashable Social Good on Twitter
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[Due to the overwhelming response to our series Hacking the Food System, Food+Tech Connect will be continuing the conversation each Wednesday with a new post from a thought leader in the field.  Read past posts exploring how technology, information and data can change the food system status quo and follow along as the conversation continues on Twitter (hashtag #foodtech), or Facebook.]

 

My focus has mainly been on solutions that try to pull some larger “levers of change” in the food system. The industry is in such a bad state right now, and it’s so incredibly complex with many, disparate players. Different types of technology can definitely help, but I think the million dollar question is where and how….and who can and should fund it.

Lately I’ve been talking with some funders and investment advisors who are researching the most promising tech investments. Short answer: it’s hard to know for sure, and, in my opinion, the state of the industry requires a lot more systemic thinking about solutions than just tech tools on their own.

Nonetheless below would be my quick picks. I’m sure there are other areas that could benefit greatly from technology, but these stand out to me as potentially having the largest impact:

•  Precision agriculture: hardware and software to help farms increase their efficiencies. There is a lot of opportunity here. Precision ag is not only for agribusiness and not only for chemicals. There is a lot of research and innovation emerging to allow smaller farms to monitor, irrigate, and manage their land more efficiently and cheaply.

•  Water metering, sensing and allocation tools: both hardware and software, and for both municipalities and farmers directly.

• Traceabililty tools, sensors, and anything to support the (hopeful) upcoming Produce Traceability Initiative.

•  Anything that helps farm operations “do more with less”: helping them increase their efficiencies with their notoriously limited resources. Many economic and distribution issues downstream in the supply chain are initially caused by the unviable operations on the farm.

• [The elusive] Business-to-business regional supply chain transaction management and demand-supply alignment tools. Almost 99% of food sales are b-to-b. We need solutions to bring a lot more regional foods into these mainstream channels. Unfortunately, this is much easier said than done. (Check out the “Building Regional Produce Supply Chains” white paper we released with FarmsReach this summer.)

• Aquaponics in certain situations, especially where there is not enough soil, water or other resources to grow food on the land.

• Food stamp processing and innovation. Disclaimer: this isn’t my area of expertise at all(!), but I do know there is a need for 1) more markets and farmers markets to be able to process food stamps, and 2) it seems there must be an opportunity for innovation here.

• Anything that could help disseminate business planning and financial management skills to the millions of family farms in the U.S. as well as to many of the thousands of non-profit organizations trying to help them.

• Anything to entice more people to cook and actually help them do it.

• Pipe dream: An online Cliff Notes version of the Farm Bill legislation, including searchable index, map of where the money flows now, and links to pertinent legislators and contact people associated with each bill.

____________

Melanie Cheng is the founder of nonprofit Om Organics. Operated the first farmers market-to-restaurant co-op in San Francisco in 2002. Developed the OmOrganics.org website, which is still the primary resource to learn about organic agriculture and find sustainably grown foods in the SF Bay Area.  Their most recent project Catalyst Commons is an evolving initiative to help the food system movement make a bigger impact, sooner: efforts to minimize duplication of effort and connecting those with capital with those who need it.

Founder of for-profit FarmsReach.com, initially a web-based SaaS platform to facilitate regional food distribution, primarily connecting producers with wholesale buyers.  Developed and hosted Produce Supply Chain Convening in 2010, bringing together leaders along the vertical to pinpoint critical obstacles to scale sustainable food systems. Released the “Building Regional Produce Supply Chains” white paper in 2011, outlining industry obstacles and opportunities.

Curator and developer of Food Systems track at the international Social Capital Markets conference in 2010. Previously, a Cisco Systems writer and editor.

Blog content gets shared across all types of social channels. So for a blog post, the headline is its call-to-action. The headline determines how your content will be shared and spread more than the content of the post itself. 

Great headlines can take time. Personally, I've written dozens of headlines for an article before finally deciding on the one that made the final cut. To save you some time, we wanted to give you a jump-start on succeeding at this critical aspect of business blogging.

13 Awesome Headlines for Business Blogging Success 

1. 5 Things You MUST Know About [Insert Business Topic]

2. A Guide to Understanding [Insert Business Topic]'s Recent Changes

3. Best Practices for [Insert Business Topic]

4. Learn How to Do More [Insert Business Topic] With Less

5. 6 [Insert Business Topic] Secrets Revealed

6. The Truth About [Insert Business Topic]

7. 7 Instant Improvements for [Insert Business Topic]

8. 101 Statistics About [Insert Business Topic]

9. 9 Amazing [Insert Business Topic] Videos

10. How to Be the Best [Insert Business Topic]

11. An Insider's Guide to [Insert Business Topic]

12. What the Experts Won't Tell You About [Insert Business Topic]

13. 10 Unexpected Ways to Rock At [Insert Business Topic]

What is the best blog post headline you've ever written?

Image Credit: Maria Reyes-McDavis

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Steve Jobs demos Apple Macintosh, 1984

Steve Jobs introduces the Macintosh to the world. Computing would never be the same.

1984 Apple's Macintosh Commercial

Ridley Scott's famous "1984" commercial for the original Macintosh continues to find imitators, even today. In 2011, Motorola attempted to spoof the classic ad in a promotional spot for its Xoom tablet.

Steve Jobs and Microsoft at Macworld Boston 1997

When Bill Gates appeared on-screen at Macworld Boston in 1997, the audience reacted with boos and hisses. Still, the decision to partner with Microsoft and have Microsoft commit to producing software for the Macintosh was one of the most shrewd -- and likely one of the most intelligent -- decisions that Jobs made upon his return to Apple.

Although many incorrectly believe that Microsoft "bought" Apple in 1997, the reality is, without Microsoft's investment and commitment to developing Macintosh software, the company may have had a more difficult time getting its next line of products to the market.

The First iMac Introduction

The iMac helped set the standard for the modern Apple even as we know it today. Designed by Jonathan Ive, the iMac was sleek, modern and affordable. This was not the Macintosh of the early to mid 1990s, it was something new.

With the iMac, Apple became cool. We can vividly remember looking at the egg-shaped all-in-one design with the hockey puck mouse and famous lack of a floppy drive and being transfixed. The iMac marked the beginning of Apple 2.0.

The First iPod Keynote (2001)

Nearly 10 years ago, Apple debuted the iPod. Famously ridiculed and dismissed by Slashdot, it would be several years before the device would become iconic, and in the process, change Apple fundamentally as a company.

The premise behind the iPod was simple: 1,000 songs in your pocket. Its the execution that set the device apart from everyone else.

In 2003, Apple flipped the switch again, with the launch of the iTunes Music Store. In a post-Napster industry, most were skeptical that iTunes could drive music sales. Eight years later, iTunes is the number one music retailer by a large margin.

Ten years on, the iPod is getting long in the tooth, but it still remains the leader in its product category.

Steve Jobs presents the iTunes Phone

After the iPod started to achieve massive success in 2003 and 2004, the rumors of an iPod phone started to swirl.

The first attempt to bring a product like that to the market was in the form of Motorola's Rokr. The Rokr tried to capitalize on the success of the Razr, while also adding compatibility with iTunes.

Still, the device was a dud. You can see Steve Jobs's frustration with the device in this demonstration. The Rokr was an example that only Apple could build an Apple product.

Steve Jobs Stanford Commencement Speech 2005

Steve Jobs's commencement speech at Stanford University in 2006 is one of our favorite Jobs moments. It's riveting, inspirational and every bit as good as any Apple product keynote.

Introducing the new iPhone PART 1

All hail the Jesus Phone. The iPhone changed the mobile industry. Full stop. The mobile world and ecosystem that we know today would not exist in the same way that it does now without the iPhone.

The iPhone also changed Apple as a company and helped further cement Jobs's place in history.

Steve Jobs and Bill Gates Together: Part 1

Steve Jobs and Bill Gates are two of the most powerful and influential men of our times. Seeing them together at D5, just ahead of the iPhone's U.S. launch, was amazing.

Apple iPad: Steve Jobs Keynote Jan. 27 2010 Part 1

In January 2010, Apple changed the game again with the iPad. Like the iPod and iPhone, the critics dismissed it and predicted its failure. Its success has outpaced nearly every other technology product launch in history and is having a seismic impact on education, publishing, media consumption and computing in general.

The PC era might not be over, but I'm willing to bet that the computer I use every day in 10 years will have a lot more in common with the iPad than the MacBook Pro.

On many occasions during a career at Apple that spanned more than 30 years, Steve Jobs took center stage to introduce the world to revolutionary products, discuss the state of the company that has become the world’s most valuable, and at times, simply to inspire.

With Apple announcing on Wednesday that its iconic founder had passed away, we wanted to take a look back at some of those moments, from the introduction of the first Macintosh, to the launch of iPod, iPhone and iPad, to his unforgettable commencement speech at Stanford.

What moments will you remember most from Jobs’s life and career? Let us know in the comments.

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More Coverage of Steve Jobs’s Death

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• Steve Jobs Has Died
• Steve Jobs: 1955 – 2011
• Apple’s Board of Directors on Steve Jobs
• Apple Pays Tribute to Steve Jobs
• Newspapers React to the Death of Steve Jobs [PICS]
• Jobs Family Statement: “Steve Died Peacefully”
• Steve Jobs Remembered: 10 of His Most Magical Moments [VIDEO]
• RIP Steve Jobs: Share Your Condolences [OPEN THREAD]
• Mark Zuckerberg Pays Tribute to Steve Jobs
• Google Founders: Steve Jobs Was an Inspiration
• Steve Jobs, 1955-2011: The Web Remembers
• Disney CEO: “Jobs Was Such an Original”
• Bill Gates: “I Will Miss Steve Immensely”
• President Obama on Steve Jobs: “The World Has Lost a Visionary”
• Google’s Homepage Pays Tribute to Steve Jobs
• Memories Of Steve Jobs: Interviews & Inspiration
• Steve Jobs: Goodbye to an Icon
• 15 Inspirational Steve Jobs Quotes
• Steve Jobs’s Other Amazing Companies: NeXT and Pixar

More About: apple, steve jobs