Technology for Good – episode thirteen with Diginomica’s Jon Reed

Welcome to episode thirteen of the Technology for Good hangout. In this week’s show we had the awesome Jon Reed from Diginomica as a guest on the show. Given that Earth Day fell this week, there were plenty of stories around environmental footprints as well as the more usual Internet of Things and Wearables topics.

Here’s the stories that we discussed in the show:

Climate

• Happy Earth Day. We Just Reached Another Scary Climate Change Milestone http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/22/carbon-dioxide-climate-change_n_5187844.html

Footprint

• Apple campaign touts progress on reducing environmental impact http://touch.latimes.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-79971875/
• Apple’s Environmental page http://www.apple.com/environment/
• Apple Aims to Shrink Its Carbon Footprint With New Data Centers http://www.wired.com/2014/04/green-apple/

Renewables

• MIT, Harvard scientists study how to produce solar power without sunlight http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/blog/techflash/2014/04/mit-harvard-scientists-study-how-to-produce-solar.html
• Going solar with SunPower http://googleblog.blogspot.com.es/2014/04/going-solar-with-sunpower.html

Connectivity

• Exclusive: Google may offer Wi-Fi for cities with its Google Fiber http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/print/9247912/Exclusive_Google_may_offer_Wi_Fi_for_cities_with_its_Google_Fiber
• Google’s Project Loon balloon circles Earth in a record 22 days http://www.cnet.com/news/google-project-loon-balloon-circles-earth-in-a-record-22-days/
• Google acquires drone startup Titan Aerospace http://gigaom.com/2014/04/14/google-acquires-drone-startup-titan-aerospace/

Security

• Google is researching ways to make encryption easier to use in Gmail http://venturebeat.com/2014/04/21/google-is-researching-ways-to-make-encryption-easier-to-use-in-gmail/
• The plot to kill the password http://www.theverge.com/2014/4/15/5613704/the-plot-to-kill-the-password
• Go on, steal a bike — the San Francisco police dare you http://grist.org/list/go-on-steal-a-bike-the-san-francisco-police-dare-you/

 

Social

• Announcing FB Newswire, Powered by Storyful http://newsroom.fb.com/news/2014/04/announcing-fb-newswire-powered-by-storyful/
• FB Newswire page https://www.facebook.com/FBNewswire

Wearables

• With App Acquisition, Facebook Enters Fitness Tracking Market http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2014/04/24/with-app-acquisition-facebook-enters-fitness-tracking-market/
• Withings Pulse O2 monitors blood oxygen levels for climbers, asthmatics http://www.engadget.com/2014/04/22/withings-pulse-o2/

Connected Car

• Automakers show off in-vehicle Wi-Fi, new smartphone interfaces http://www.networkworld.com/news/2014/041614-automakers-show-off-in-vehicle-wi-fi-280768.html
• VW ready to spend $25B on at least 6 EVs in China by 2018 http://green.autoblog.com/2014/04/22/vw-ready-to-spend-25b-on-at-least-6-evs-in-china-by-2018/

Environment

• 7 high-tech tools to make poaching extinct http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/animals/stories/7-high-tech-tools-to-make-poaching-extinct
• World’s Top Serial Bird Killers Put Infamous Windmills to Shame http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-04-21/beware-the-blades-of-death-world-s-top-serial-bird-killers-.html

Internet of Things (IoT)

• Internet Glue Service IFTTT Launches On Android With Deeper Integration Than iOS http://techcrunch.com/2014/04/24/internet-glue-service-ifttt-launches-on-android-with-deeper-integration-than-ios/
• Satya Nadella Just Launched Microsoft Into A New $1.6 Trillion Market http://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-launches-iot-cloud-2014-4

Software

• Microsoft ready to test new Office ‘Mix’ interactive presentation application http://www.zdnet.com/microsoft-ready-to-test-new-office-mix-interactive-presentation-application-7000028601/
• Reeder 2 for Mac Now Available in Public Beta http://lifehacker.com/reeder-2-for-mac-now-available-in-public-beta-1562226402

Misc.

• Asteroid impact risks ‘underappreciated’ http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-27039285
• Google introduces ‘time machine’ feature in Street View http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/apr/23/google-introduces-time-machine-feature-in-street-view
• World first for Irish graphene researchers http://www.irishtimes.com/news/science/world-first-for-irish-graphene-researchers-1.1766739
• SAP running six week online course on Sustainability and Business Innovation http://greenmonk.net/2014/04/24/sap-running-six-week-online-course-sustainability-business-innovation/

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