Facebook Marketing uncoverd, unparalle, Tricks & tips, Book & videos!!!

Did you know? There are 500 million potential customers for your product or service – ALL in one spot - & they're waiting for you.

Have you tapped into them yet? Many marketers see Facebook as a giant waste of time, & they don't realize that they are missing out on a huge marketplace. But Facebook has over 500 million active users & accounts for something like 35% of all Internet traffic.

With [Facebook Marketing Uncovered] you'll discover:

* How to use Facebook, step by step
* What marketing methods work on Facebook & which ones don’t
* How to find products to sell if you don’t have your own
* How to use fan pages for maximum profit
* Why groups are useful & when you want to use them
* How to use Facebook advertising for profit
* & much, much more
Download link will be coming very soon....

Read more »

Posted in: Facebook,Hacking,Internet,Internet Business,Market,Video,Web,Web Rank,Web Traffic

Tags Added in HTML5 and Sitepoint - HTML5 & CSS3 for the Real World

Free Download

Tag Description Covered in Chapter
<article> Defines an article 11
<audio> Defines sound content 15
<canvas> Defines graphics 16
<command> Defines a command button 14
<datagrid> Defines data in a tree-list 14
<datalist> Defines a drop-down list 14
<datatemplate> Defines a data template 14
<details> Defines details of an element
<dialog> Defines a dialog (conversation)
<embed> Defines external interactive content or plug-in 16
<eventsource> Defines a target for events sent by a server 16
<figure> Defines a group of media content, and their caption 9
<footer> Defines a footer for a section or page 11
<header> Defines a header for a section or page 11
<mark> Defines marked text
<meter> Defines measurement within a predefined range
<nav> Defines navigation links 10
<nest> Defines a nestingpoint in a datatemplate 14
<output> Defines some types of output
<progress> Defines progress of a task of any kind
<rule> Defines the rules for updating a template
<section> Defines a section 11
<source> Defines media resources 15
<time> Defines a date/time
<video> Defines a video 15

HTML5.Step.by.Step

Sitepoint - HTML5 & CSS3 for the Real World

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Posted in: Computer,Download,Free Download,Internet,Internet Business,Market,Microsoft,Online Job,Sale,Software,Web,Windows 8

Bad spelling opens up security loopholes...

Facebook has paid $5000 to those who found the biggest security holes in its site. & has spent $40,000 (£25,000) in the first 21 days of a program that rewards the discovery of security bugs.

The bug bounty program aims to encourage security researchers to help harden Facebook against attack.

One security researcher has been rewarded with more than $7,000 for finding six serious bugs in the social networking site.

The program runs alongside Facebook's efforts to police the code it creates that keeps the social site running.

A blog post by Facebook chief security officer Joe Sullivan revealed some information about the early days of the bug bounty program.

He said the program had made Facebook more secure by introducing the networking site to "novel attack vectors, & helping us improve lots of corners in our code".

The minimum amount paid for a bug is $500, said Mr Sullivan, up to a maximum of $5000 for the most serious loopholes. The maximum bounty has already been paid once, he said.

Many cyber criminals & vandals have targeted Facebook in many different ways to extract useful information from people, promote spam or fake goods.
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote

It's hardly surprising that the service is riddled with rogue apps & viral scams”

Graham Cluley Sophos

Mr Sullivan said Facebook had internal bug-hunting teams, used external auditors to vet its code & ran "bug-a-thons" to hunt out mistakes but it regularly received reports about glitches from independent security researchers.

Facebook set up a system to handle these reports in 2010 which promised not to take legal action against those that find bugs & gave it chance to assess them.

Paying those that report problems was the logical next step for the disclosure system, he said.

Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos, said many other firms, including Google & Mozilla, run similar schemes that have proved useful in rooting out bugs.

However, he said, many criminally-minded bug spotters might get more for what they find if they sell the knowledge on an underground market.

He added that the bug bounty scheme might be missing the biggest source of security problems on Facebook.

"They're specifically not going to reward people for identifying rogue third party Facebook apps, clickjacking scams & the like," he said. "It's those sorts of problems which are much more commonly encountered by Facebook users & have arguably impacted more people."

Facebook should consider setting up a "walled garden" that only allowed vetted applications from approved developers to connect to the social networking site, he said.

"Facebook claims there are over one million developers on the Facebook platform, so it's hardly surprising that the service is riddled with rogue apps & viral scams," he said.

Read more »

Posted in: Computer,Entertainment,Facebook,Google,Internet,Internet Business,Latest Technolgoy,Market,Microsoft,Online Job,Web,Windows 8

Bad spelling opens up security loopholes...

Facebook has paid $5000 to those who found the biggest security holes in its site. & has spent $40,000 (£25,000) in the first 21 days of a program that rewards the discovery of security bugs.

The bug bounty program aims to encourage security researchers to help harden Facebook against attack.

One security researcher has been rewarded with more than $7,000 for finding six serious bugs in the social networking site.

The program runs alongside Facebook's efforts to police the code it creates that keeps the social site running.

A blog post by Facebook chief security officer Joe Sullivan revealed some information about the early days of the bug bounty program.

He said the program had made Facebook more secure by introducing the networking site to "novel attack vectors, & helping us improve lots of corners in our code".

The minimum amount paid for a bug is $500, said Mr Sullivan, up to a maximum of $5000 for the most serious loopholes. The maximum bounty has already been paid once, he said.

Many cyber criminals & vandals have targeted Facebook in many different ways to extract useful information from people, promote spam or fake goods.
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote

It's hardly surprising that the service is riddled with rogue apps & viral scams”

Graham Cluley Sophos

Mr Sullivan said Facebook had internal bug-hunting teams, used external auditors to vet its code & ran "bug-a-thons" to hunt out mistakes but it regularly received reports about glitches from independent security researchers.

Facebook set up a system to handle these reports in 2010 which promised not to take legal action against those that find bugs & gave it chance to assess them.

Paying those that report problems was the logical next step for the disclosure system, he said.

Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos, said many other firms, including Google & Mozilla, run similar schemes that have proved useful in rooting out bugs.

However, he said, many criminally-minded bug spotters might get more for what they find if they sell the knowledge on an underground market.

He added that the bug bounty scheme might be missing the biggest source of security problems on Facebook.

"They're specifically not going to reward people for identifying rogue third party Facebook apps, clickjacking scams & the like," he said. "It's those sorts of problems which are much more commonly encountered by Facebook users & have arguably impacted more people."

Facebook should consider setting up a "walled garden" that only allowed vetted applications from approved developers to connect to the social networking site, he said.

"Facebook claims there are over one million developers on the Facebook platform, so it's hardly surprising that the service is riddled with rogue apps & viral scams," he said.

Read more »

Posted in: Computer,Entertainment,Facebook,Google,Internet,Internet Business,Latest Technolgoy,Market,Microsoft,Online Job,Web,Windows 8

Warning to Facebook users for over personal data

Computer security experts are warning that Facebook users divulge too much personal information which can potentially be accessed by criminals.

Cyber criminals can use this information to steal people's identities and commit fraud in their name.

IT security consultant Rob Vaughan, who spoke about cyber crime at the University of Glamorgan in Pontypridd on Tuesday, said people should think twice before adding details like their address and date of birth to their Facebook page.

"You can change your privacy settings but people put far, far too much personal information into Facebook and other social networking sites," he said.

"If you just stop and think about what you are doing... ask yourself if you really need to put that level of information in there.

"Also, you don't necessarily know all your [Facebook] friends on there that well."
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote

You are looking at things like identity theft, harassment, bullying, sexual harassment - all sorts of things”

Det Sgt Andrea Barnard e-Crime Wales police manager

Mr Vaughan, who has just helped set up Electric Cat Cymru which helps businesses and domestic users with IT security, said criminals may use various websites to gather information on an individual, a process known as aggregation.

"I would say if you were looking at trying to pinch somebody's ID or glean as much information about someone, or if you are profiling somebody, you will find a lot of information out there in the public domain," he said.

"Organised crime is using the internet as an easy target."

Facebook, which has more than 750m active users with 50% logging on in any given day, said users were in "complete control" of what they shared, who they shared it with and how much they shared.

Its privacy settings "allow users to easily restrict access to any content that they post, as they post, according to their own comfort level", said a spokesperson.
Continue reading the main story
Facebook safety tips

Block and report anyone who sends you unwanted messages
Beware of suspicious links
Keep your computer's software up to date to beat cyber criminals
Visit the Facebook safety page
Use different passwords for your different online accounts - and keep them secret
Spend a little time reviewing your privacy settings
Be careful when accepting or sending friend requests
Before you post, stop and think about who might see it
Be careful when accessing or sending information over an unsecured public wireless network
Learn how to use tools that allow you to report things that make you feel uncomfortable

"We've made that process even simpler over the last week by introducing smart friend lists.

"Lists have existed for several years but we've made them even easier to use by rolling out smart lists which create themselves and stay up-to-date based on profile info your friends have in common with you - like your work, school, family and city."

Recent figures from a Freedom of Information request to South Wales Police showed that the number of crimes involving Facebook were on the increase.

Det Sgt Andrea Barnard, e-Crime Wales police manager, said: "I collate statistics every month on a pan-Wales basis and I can certainly say crimes on Facebook are always top of the list every month.

"You are looking at things like identity theft, harassment, bullying, sexual harassment - all sorts of things.

"It's all because people are putting up too much information about themselves."

She said businesses also needed to be careful about social networking sites as, for example, viruses and malware (malicious software) could be accidentally downloaded by employees using them during a break.

"If that's happening in the workplace it's very expensive to sort the problem out and you are potentially exposing very important company data," she said.

She said she would always advise businesses to implement an 'acceptable use policy' for social networking sites.
Extract data

Jaime Hindle, business liaison officer at the University of Glamorgan, said more and more businesses were now using social networking sites for commercial purposes, which presented potential pitfalls.

"If you don't take a savvy attitude to your page, you could be compromised," he said.

"It could be personal protection or commercial sabotage from viruses to phishing to spam to hacking into data."

He said cyber crime as a whole was becoming more prevalent as criminals turned away from more high-risk illegal activities.

"The old crimes of mugging and ram raiding, we don't hear of them any more because criminals are looking at less risky and more profitable enterprises like cyber crime," he said.

The University of Glamorgan hosted Tuesday's seminar on cyber crime as part of the Software Alliance Wales project, which promotes Wales' ICT and software sector.

Read more »

Posted in: Facebook,Google,Home business,Hot Hits,Internet Business,Latest Technolgoy,Market,Microsoft,Online Job,Web,Windows 8

Warning to Facebook users for over personal data

Computer security experts are warning that Facebook users divulge too much personal information which can potentially be accessed by criminals.

Cyber criminals can use this information to steal people's identities and commit fraud in their name.

IT security consultant Rob Vaughan, who spoke about cyber crime at the University of Glamorgan in Pontypridd on Tuesday, said people should think twice before adding details like their address and date of birth to their Facebook page.

"You can change your privacy settings but people put far, far too much personal information into Facebook and other social networking sites," he said.

"If you just stop and think about what you are doing... ask yourself if you really need to put that level of information in there.

"Also, you don't necessarily know all your [Facebook] friends on there that well."
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote

You are looking at things like identity theft, harassment, bullying, sexual harassment - all sorts of things”

Det Sgt Andrea Barnard e-Crime Wales police manager

Mr Vaughan, who has just helped set up Electric Cat Cymru which helps businesses and domestic users with IT security, said criminals may use various websites to gather information on an individual, a process known as aggregation.

"I would say if you were looking at trying to pinch somebody's ID or glean as much information about someone, or if you are profiling somebody, you will find a lot of information out there in the public domain," he said.

"Organised crime is using the internet as an easy target."

Facebook, which has more than 750m active users with 50% logging on in any given day, said users were in "complete control" of what they shared, who they shared it with and how much they shared.

Its privacy settings "allow users to easily restrict access to any content that they post, as they post, according to their own comfort level", said a spokesperson.
Continue reading the main story
Facebook safety tips

Block and report anyone who sends you unwanted messages
Beware of suspicious links
Keep your computer's software up to date to beat cyber criminals
Visit the Facebook safety page
Use different passwords for your different online accounts - and keep them secret
Spend a little time reviewing your privacy settings
Be careful when accepting or sending friend requests
Before you post, stop and think about who might see it
Be careful when accessing or sending information over an unsecured public wireless network
Learn how to use tools that allow you to report things that make you feel uncomfortable

"We've made that process even simpler over the last week by introducing smart friend lists.

"Lists have existed for several years but we've made them even easier to use by rolling out smart lists which create themselves and stay up-to-date based on profile info your friends have in common with you - like your work, school, family and city."

Recent figures from a Freedom of Information request to South Wales Police showed that the number of crimes involving Facebook were on the increase.

Det Sgt Andrea Barnard, e-Crime Wales police manager, said: "I collate statistics every month on a pan-Wales basis and I can certainly say crimes on Facebook are always top of the list every month.

"You are looking at things like identity theft, harassment, bullying, sexual harassment - all sorts of things.

"It's all because people are putting up too much information about themselves."

She said businesses also needed to be careful about social networking sites as, for example, viruses and malware (malicious software) could be accidentally downloaded by employees using them during a break.

"If that's happening in the workplace it's very expensive to sort the problem out and you are potentially exposing very important company data," she said.

She said she would always advise businesses to implement an 'acceptable use policy' for social networking sites.
Extract data

Jaime Hindle, business liaison officer at the University of Glamorgan, said more and more businesses were now using social networking sites for commercial purposes, which presented potential pitfalls.

"If you don't take a savvy attitude to your page, you could be compromised," he said.

"It could be personal protection or commercial sabotage from viruses to phishing to spam to hacking into data."

He said cyber crime as a whole was becoming more prevalent as criminals turned away from more high-risk illegal activities.

"The old crimes of mugging and ram raiding, we don't hear of them any more because criminals are looking at less risky and more profitable enterprises like cyber crime," he said.

The University of Glamorgan hosted Tuesday's seminar on cyber crime as part of the Software Alliance Wales project, which promotes Wales' ICT and software sector.

Read more »

Posted in: Facebook,Google,Home business,Hot Hits,Internet Business,Latest Technolgoy,Market,Microsoft,Online Job,Web,Windows 8

To add phishing safety net, Facebook works with Websense

Users will see this notice if they are about to visit a potentially harmful website, giving them the option to go back to the previous page.

Facebook have stepped up their battle against phishing & malware scammers by partnering with security firm Websense.

As of next week, users will be warned if they are about to be taken to a malicious website.

The social network has suffered to date as many of its 700 million users unwittingly click on dangerous links supposedly posted by their friends.

Such attacks usually trick users into sharing passwords or data.

Facebook already tells users if they are about to visit an external site, but the current set up makes no distinction between friendly & dangerous sites.

The new technology will present a warning screen whenever it suspects a page poses a threat to the users, giving details of the risk.

From here, users are encouraged to return to the previous page.

If they wish, users can continue to the intended page, albeit very much at their own risk.
'Profitable target'

Both Facebook & Websense will hope the extra measures will be enough to deter potential scammers from focusing their efforts on the network.

Scams regularly catch out hundreds of thousands of users at a time.
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote

As more of these 'friend in the middle' attacks happen, you start to trust your friends less.”

Spencer Parker Websense

"There's over 700 million users on Facebook," Websense's Spencer Parker told the BBC.


"As a piece of real estate, it's extremely profitable to be targeted by malware writers."


The protection will be powered by Websense's "Threatseeker Cloud", a system which stores a database of known malicious URLs.


The system can also detect unknown dangerous URLs by assessing threats in real-time.


This means harmful URLs can be blocked even before they are known to the company - cutting off a key tactic used by phishers in which constantly changing URLs fool database-driven protection.


In addition, the system will "follow" links made using popular URL shorteners - such as bit.ly & ow.ly - to verify their safety.

Due to the nature of how we interact with our friends, Mr Parker says phishing attacks on Facebook are much harder to prevent than other commonly used techniques.

"One of the things with Facebook, of course, is that you have that element of trust in a social network. If one of your friends posts something, you automatically trust it more than if it just received as a spam email.

"As more of these 'friend in the middle' attacks happen, you start to trust your friends less."

Read more »

Posted in: Business,Computer,Facebook,Google,Internet,Internet Business,Latest Technolgoy,Market,Microsoft,Online Job,Web,Windows 8

To add phishing safety net, Facebook works with Websense

Users will see this notice if they are about to visit a potentially harmful website, giving them the option to go back to the previous page.

Facebook have stepped up their battle against phishing & malware scammers by partnering with security firm Websense.

As of next week, users will be warned if they are about to be taken to a malicious website.

The social network has suffered to date as many of its 700 million users unwittingly click on dangerous links supposedly posted by their friends.

Such attacks usually trick users into sharing passwords or data.

Facebook already tells users if they are about to visit an external site, but the current set up makes no distinction between friendly & dangerous sites.

The new technology will present a warning screen whenever it suspects a page poses a threat to the users, giving details of the risk.

From here, users are encouraged to return to the previous page.

If they wish, users can continue to the intended page, albeit very much at their own risk.
'Profitable target'

Both Facebook & Websense will hope the extra measures will be enough to deter potential scammers from focusing their efforts on the network.

Scams regularly catch out hundreds of thousands of users at a time.
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote

As more of these 'friend in the middle' attacks happen, you start to trust your friends less.”

Spencer Parker Websense

"There's over 700 million users on Facebook," Websense's Spencer Parker told the BBC.


"As a piece of real estate, it's extremely profitable to be targeted by malware writers."


The protection will be powered by Websense's "Threatseeker Cloud", a system which stores a database of known malicious URLs.


The system can also detect unknown dangerous URLs by assessing threats in real-time.


This means harmful URLs can be blocked even before they are known to the company - cutting off a key tactic used by phishers in which constantly changing URLs fool database-driven protection.


In addition, the system will "follow" links made using popular URL shorteners - such as bit.ly & ow.ly - to verify their safety.

Due to the nature of how we interact with our friends, Mr Parker says phishing attacks on Facebook are much harder to prevent than other commonly used techniques.

"One of the things with Facebook, of course, is that you have that element of trust in a social network. If one of your friends posts something, you automatically trust it more than if it just received as a spam email.

"As more of these 'friend in the middle' attacks happen, you start to trust your friends less."

Read more »

Posted in: Business,Computer,Facebook,Google,Internet,Internet Business,Latest Technolgoy,Market,Microsoft,Online Job,Web,Windows 8

Google Invites Everyone to Be Friends on Its Social Network

Anyone can now sign up for Google Plus, which has new features including mobile video "hangouts."

After 12 weeks of socializing in select circles, Google has announced that anyone can sign up for its fledgling social network, Google Plus.

The wider adoption of the service now that it's widely available will be crucial to the success of Google Plus, & to Google's ability to compete with Facebook as a force in social networking & in selling more targeted ads. Google's social network was launched in June to positive reviews & considerable interest, but activity has slowed in recent weeks.

Unique features, especially the ability to target updates to different social "circles," were well received by the first rush of users. However, many of them appear to have stopped using the service, perhaps because so few of their friends also had access. Anyone can now sign up for a Google Plus account at this page.

Negative media coverage followed the recent drop in activity, but Bradley Horowitz, product manager for Google Plus, told Technology Review that the behavior was expected.

"There has been a class of user that has seen [that] the product is not ready for them, & we expected that," Horowitz says. "The idea of the field trial was to get a critical mass of usage so that we could measure & instrument the system to understand what worked & what was broken, & we got sufficient traffic to do that."

Horowitz says Google put little effort into driving interest during the field trial, doing little more than posting updates on the company blog. That policy doesn't appear to have changed yet, but in the future the company could use its search, e-mail, or other services to promote the adoption of Google Plus.

Several new features were added to Google Plus today. One expands the "hangouts" group-video feature to smart phones & also allows users to make their hangout chats public—something expected to be popular with celebrities or businesses using Google Plus.

Google has also added a version of its search engine to its social network. The classic search box now appears at the top of every Google Plus page, giving users a way to search through updates & links that users share within their own network, as well as everything shared publicly by all users.

For example, Horowitz, explains, "When you type 'kite surfing' into Google Plus, you will see a live stream of content not only from people you know & care about but also experts in the field."

Search—and the underlying technology that ranks information from friends & other sources—is a particularly significant new feature, according to Horowitz. "This moves the center of gravity of the project," he says. "Instead of relying on your social network to deliver you content, this allows an interest graph to emerge."

Google plans to release more enhancements & features to Google Plus in the weeks & months ahead. "There's a lot more to come," Horowitz says.

Read more »

Posted in: Business,Entertainment,Hot Hits,Hottest,Internet,Internet Business,Latest Technolgoy,Market,Web,Windows 8

Google Invites Everyone to Be Friends on Its Social Network

Anyone can now sign up for Google Plus, which has new features including mobile video "hangouts."

After 12 weeks of socializing in select circles, Google has announced that anyone can sign up for its fledgling social network, Google Plus.

The wider adoption of the service now that it's widely available will be crucial to the success of Google Plus, & to Google's ability to compete with Facebook as a force in social networking & in selling more targeted ads. Google's social network was launched in June to positive reviews & considerable interest, but activity has slowed in recent weeks.

Unique features, especially the ability to target updates to different social "circles," were well received by the first rush of users. However, many of them appear to have stopped using the service, perhaps because so few of their friends also had access. Anyone can now sign up for a Google Plus account at this page.

Negative media coverage followed the recent drop in activity, but Bradley Horowitz, product manager for Google Plus, told Technology Review that the behavior was expected.

"There has been a class of user that has seen [that] the product is not ready for them, & we expected that," Horowitz says. "The idea of the field trial was to get a critical mass of usage so that we could measure & instrument the system to understand what worked & what was broken, & we got sufficient traffic to do that."

Horowitz says Google put little effort into driving interest during the field trial, doing little more than posting updates on the company blog. That policy doesn't appear to have changed yet, but in the future the company could use its search, e-mail, or other services to promote the adoption of Google Plus.

Several new features were added to Google Plus today. One expands the "hangouts" group-video feature to smart phones & also allows users to make their hangout chats public—something expected to be popular with celebrities or businesses using Google Plus.

Google has also added a version of its search engine to its social network. The classic search box now appears at the top of every Google Plus page, giving users a way to search through updates & links that users share within their own network, as well as everything shared publicly by all users.

For example, Horowitz, explains, "When you type 'kite surfing' into Google Plus, you will see a live stream of content not only from people you know & care about but also experts in the field."

Search—and the underlying technology that ranks information from friends & other sources—is a particularly significant new feature, according to Horowitz. "This moves the center of gravity of the project," he says. "Instead of relying on your social network to deliver you content, this allows an interest graph to emerge."

Google plans to release more enhancements & features to Google Plus in the weeks & months ahead. "There's a lot more to come," Horowitz says.

Read more »

Posted in: Business,Entertainment,Hot Hits,Hottest,Internet,Internet Business,Latest Technolgoy,Market,Web,Windows 8

Nissan's Cars Will Read Your Mind

The Japanese automaker is teaming up with Swiss researchers to build a car that will predict its driver's intentions.



In the future--don't ask how distant--your car may be able to read your mind.

Nissan announced that it would be collaborating with the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland (EPFL) on a car that would be able to make an educated guess about what a driver's intentions are. The idea isn't quite to have a car be steered by the driver's mind alone--as in this German concept proposing that a car brake for you, based on brain signals. Rather, the car would read the driver's mind & prepare itself for a manually executed maneuver. Think about turning to the right, for instance, & the car will adopt the appropriate speed & road position.

How could a car know what you're thinking? For one thing, it would use brain-computer interface (BCI) technology developed at EPFL. The Swiss researchers, led by Professor José del R. Millán, are acknowledged leaders in this space, having created an interface that enables the steering of a wheelchair by thought alone, for instance.

But the car would read more than the driver's mind. The car's sensors could scan around the car itself, effectively cross-checking what the driver is thinking with what's actually out there. You may want to turn left--but if there's a Mack truck in your blind spot, your car will know better. By combining brain & environmental data, the car (and driver) makes smarter choices. "The idea is to blend driver & vehicle intelligence together in such a way that eliminates conflicts between them, leading to a safer motoring environment," José del R. Millán recently said.

EPFL isn't the first academic institution to dabble in hands-free driving. A German university-- Freie Universität Berlin--got there first.

But to the best of my knowledge, this is the first time a major car manufacturer has joined the effort, bringing the research into the realm of commercial, mass-market reality. The EPFL collaboration is part of a six-year plan Nissan calls "Power 88"; other technology projects include smart cruise control, distance control assist, & moving object detection--basically, more & more ways of automating the driving experience.

All of which raises the question: won't mind-reading cars be obsolete in an era of driverless cars?

Read more »

Posted in: Car,Entertainment,Hottest,Latest Technolgoy,Market

Nissan's Cars Will Read Your Mind

The Japanese automaker is teaming up with Swiss researchers to build a car that will predict its driver's intentions.



In the future--don't ask how distant--your car may be able to read your mind.

Nissan announced that it would be collaborating with the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland (EPFL) on a car that would be able to make an educated guess about what a driver's intentions are. The idea isn't quite to have a car be steered by the driver's mind alone--as in this German concept proposing that a car brake for you, based on brain signals. Rather, the car would read the driver's mind & prepare itself for a manually executed maneuver. Think about turning to the right, for instance, & the car will adopt the appropriate speed & road position.

How could a car know what you're thinking? For one thing, it would use brain-computer interface (BCI) technology developed at EPFL. The Swiss researchers, led by Professor José del R. Millán, are acknowledged leaders in this space, having created an interface that enables the steering of a wheelchair by thought alone, for instance.

But the car would read more than the driver's mind. The car's sensors could scan around the car itself, effectively cross-checking what the driver is thinking with what's actually out there. You may want to turn left--but if there's a Mack truck in your blind spot, your car will know better. By combining brain & environmental data, the car (and driver) makes smarter choices. "The idea is to blend driver & vehicle intelligence together in such a way that eliminates conflicts between them, leading to a safer motoring environment," José del R. Millán recently said.

EPFL isn't the first academic institution to dabble in hands-free driving. A German university-- Freie Universität Berlin--got there first.

But to the best of my knowledge, this is the first time a major car manufacturer has joined the effort, bringing the research into the realm of commercial, mass-market reality. The EPFL collaboration is part of a six-year plan Nissan calls "Power 88"; other technology projects include smart cruise control, distance control assist, & moving object detection--basically, more & more ways of automating the driving experience.

All of which raises the question: won't mind-reading cars be obsolete in an era of driverless cars?

Read more »

Posted in: Car,Entertainment,Hottest,Latest Technolgoy,Market

Carmakers Unveil New Types of Hybrids

Lean machine: The Jaguar XF will use a flywheel hybrid system. Alternative approaches replace the battery with compressed air or a flywheel.


Hybrid cars normally combine conventional engines with battery-powered electric motors. But many carmakers are developing alternative types of hybrids—some of which were on display this month at the Frankfurt Motor Show in Germany.

Hybrid systems recover kinetic energy—from the engine or from the vehicle itself—and use it to boost the efficiency of the engine. A typical hybrid car does this by charging up a battery.

Scuderi, based in West Springfield, Massachusetts, has altered the way the internal combustion engine operates to convert kinetic energy into the potential energy of high-pressure air. It splits the four parts of the internal combustion cycle across two cylinders synchronized on the same crankshaft. One cylinder handles the air intake & compression part of the cycle, pumping compressed air via a crossover passage into the second cylinder. The crossover contains the fuel-injection system, & combustion & exhaust are handled in the second cylinder.

When the vehicle does not need power—when traveling downhill, braking, or decelerating—the second cylinder is disabled & the first cylinder's air is diverted into a high-pressure air-storage tank. This air can be used to help run the engine, boosting its efficiency.

Recently, Scuderi has combined this system with a "Miller-cycle" turbocharger, which picks up energy off the exhaust & uses it to compress air into the intake cylinder. This allows the compression side to be shrunk down & reduces the amount of work done through the crankshaft. "The engine is producing much higher output at higher efficiency, we're producing less emissions, & our torque level is very high," said Scuderi group president Sal Scuderi at the Frankfurt show. "Our gasoline engine will rival the torque of any diesel engine on the market, but it does that while maintaining low pressure inside the cylinders, which reduces wear & tear."

Scuderi has now released results of a computer simulation of its engine against a European economy-class engine of comparable power. The air hybrid achieved a fuel economy figure of 65 miles per gallon, compared with 52 miles per gallon for the conventional engine. It also emitted 85 grams per kilometer of carbon dioxide, compared with 104 grams per kilometer for the conventional engine.

Across the Atlantic, a team that formerly worked for the Renault Formula 1 team has adapted its motorsport-developed flywheel system for use with conventional vehicles. The team has formed a company, Flybrid Systems, to commercialize the technology, & has teamed up with Jaguar Land Rover to trial the Flybrid technology that was originally developed as the kinetic energy recovery system (KERS) used in Formula 1 racing to provide a boost during racing. But while most KERS systems work by using a flywheel to charge an onboard battery or supercapacitor, Flybrid uses a gearbox system to transfer kinetic energy directly to & from the wheels.

Flybrid cars transfer energy via either a continuously variable transmission or a less complex three-gear system, which allows 15 different gear ratios on a standard five-gear model. "There are always efficiency losses when you convert energy," explains Flybrid's technical director, Doug Cross. "This system eliminates those losses, making it far more efficient."

The flywheel weighs five kilograms & is made from carbon fiber wrapped around a steel core. Because it is so light, it has to spin fast—at 60,000 rpm—which means that its rim is traveling at supersonic speeds. As a result, it has to operate in a vacuum, & Flybrid has developed special seals so that the wheel can be fully enclosed inside a safety container in case of a crash. At top speed, the flywheel can store 540 kilojoules of energy, which is sufficient to accelerate an average-sized automobile from a standing start to 48 kilometers per hour.

"One way you can use this technology is to boost the car during a cruise," Cross said. "We have a system installed on a Jaguar saloon, & that has shown that during a cruise, you can actually switch the engine off for 65 percent of the journey. With a V6 diesel engine, it cuts fuel use by 26 percent, but gives you the power of a V8 petrol engine."

Read more »

Posted in: Business,Car,Entertainment,Hottest,Latest Technolgoy,Market

Carmakers Unveil New Types of Hybrids

Lean machine: The Jaguar XF will use a flywheel hybrid system. Alternative approaches replace the battery with compressed air or a flywheel.


Hybrid cars normally combine conventional engines with battery-powered electric motors. But many carmakers are developing alternative types of hybrids—some of which were on display this month at the Frankfurt Motor Show in Germany.

Hybrid systems recover kinetic energy—from the engine or from the vehicle itself—and use it to boost the efficiency of the engine. A typical hybrid car does this by charging up a battery.

Scuderi, based in West Springfield, Massachusetts, has altered the way the internal combustion engine operates to convert kinetic energy into the potential energy of high-pressure air. It splits the four parts of the internal combustion cycle across two cylinders synchronized on the same crankshaft. One cylinder handles the air intake & compression part of the cycle, pumping compressed air via a crossover passage into the second cylinder. The crossover contains the fuel-injection system, & combustion & exhaust are handled in the second cylinder.

When the vehicle does not need power—when traveling downhill, braking, or decelerating—the second cylinder is disabled & the first cylinder's air is diverted into a high-pressure air-storage tank. This air can be used to help run the engine, boosting its efficiency.

Recently, Scuderi has combined this system with a "Miller-cycle" turbocharger, which picks up energy off the exhaust & uses it to compress air into the intake cylinder. This allows the compression side to be shrunk down & reduces the amount of work done through the crankshaft. "The engine is producing much higher output at higher efficiency, we're producing less emissions, & our torque level is very high," said Scuderi group president Sal Scuderi at the Frankfurt show. "Our gasoline engine will rival the torque of any diesel engine on the market, but it does that while maintaining low pressure inside the cylinders, which reduces wear & tear."

Scuderi has now released results of a computer simulation of its engine against a European economy-class engine of comparable power. The air hybrid achieved a fuel economy figure of 65 miles per gallon, compared with 52 miles per gallon for the conventional engine. It also emitted 85 grams per kilometer of carbon dioxide, compared with 104 grams per kilometer for the conventional engine.

Across the Atlantic, a team that formerly worked for the Renault Formula 1 team has adapted its motorsport-developed flywheel system for use with conventional vehicles. The team has formed a company, Flybrid Systems, to commercialize the technology, & has teamed up with Jaguar Land Rover to trial the Flybrid technology that was originally developed as the kinetic energy recovery system (KERS) used in Formula 1 racing to provide a boost during racing. But while most KERS systems work by using a flywheel to charge an onboard battery or supercapacitor, Flybrid uses a gearbox system to transfer kinetic energy directly to & from the wheels.

Flybrid cars transfer energy via either a continuously variable transmission or a less complex three-gear system, which allows 15 different gear ratios on a standard five-gear model. "There are always efficiency losses when you convert energy," explains Flybrid's technical director, Doug Cross. "This system eliminates those losses, making it far more efficient."

The flywheel weighs five kilograms & is made from carbon fiber wrapped around a steel core. Because it is so light, it has to spin fast—at 60,000 rpm—which means that its rim is traveling at supersonic speeds. As a result, it has to operate in a vacuum, & Flybrid has developed special seals so that the wheel can be fully enclosed inside a safety container in case of a crash. At top speed, the flywheel can store 540 kilojoules of energy, which is sufficient to accelerate an average-sized automobile from a standing start to 48 kilometers per hour.

"One way you can use this technology is to boost the car during a cruise," Cross said. "We have a system installed on a Jaguar saloon, & that has shown that during a cruise, you can actually switch the engine off for 65 percent of the journey. With a V6 diesel engine, it cuts fuel use by 26 percent, but gives you the power of a V8 petrol engine."

Read more »

Posted in: Business,Car,Entertainment,Hottest,Latest Technolgoy,Market

The International Best Dressed List 2011

A thread of tradition runs through this latest roster of haute style, as royal brides, tycoons, & movie stars alike cherish the perfectly broken-in handmade shoe or the heirloom bling. But it’s a sure bet that each one has a favorite new fashion purchase too!!!

For the first time as a member of the British royal family, Kate Middleton makes her way onto the International Best-Dressed List—her inaugural appearance came in 2008, & a whirlwind of fashion successes since has earned her a nod this year. She’s captivated the world with her signature mix of high & low fashion. (For a look at Kate’s particularly fetching travel attire, see our slide show.) Michelle & Barack Obama also make their first appearance together on the Best-Dressed Couples list. Michelle has been among the best-dressed ladies for the past four years, while the president has only earned a spot once, back in 2009.

Meanwhile, from Hollywood’s royal ranks come actors Justin Timberlake, Colin Firth, & Armie Hammer—all first-time entrants—while actresses Carey Mulligan & Tilda Swinton are second-timers. (Swinton returns after a three-year hiatus.) Among the fashion originals, Lady Gaga (her second recognition) is joined by Janelle Monáe—and NBC News anchor Brian Williams enters the illustrious ranks of the list’s Hall of Fame.

INTERNATIONAL BEST-DRESSED LIST: WOMEN

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Posted in: Beauty tips,Entertainment,Fashion,Hot Hits,Hottest,Market,Ware Fashion,Women

The International Best Dressed List 2011

A thread of tradition runs through this latest roster of haute style, as royal brides, tycoons, & movie stars alike cherish the perfectly broken-in handmade shoe or the heirloom bling. But it’s a sure bet that each one has a favorite new fashion purchase too!!!

For the first time as a member of the British royal family, Kate Middleton makes her way onto the International Best-Dressed List—her inaugural appearance came in 2008, & a whirlwind of fashion successes since has earned her a nod this year. She’s captivated the world with her signature mix of high & low fashion. (For a look at Kate’s particularly fetching travel attire, see our slide show.) Michelle & Barack Obama also make their first appearance together on the Best-Dressed Couples list. Michelle has been among the best-dressed ladies for the past four years, while the president has only earned a spot once, back in 2009.

Meanwhile, from Hollywood’s royal ranks come actors Justin Timberlake, Colin Firth, & Armie Hammer—all first-time entrants—while actresses Carey Mulligan & Tilda Swinton are second-timers. (Swinton returns after a three-year hiatus.) Among the fashion originals, Lady Gaga (her second recognition) is joined by Janelle Monáe—and NBC News anchor Brian Williams enters the illustrious ranks of the list’s Hall of Fame.

INTERNATIONAL BEST-DRESSED LIST: WOMEN

Read more »

Posted in: Beauty tips,Entertainment,Fashion,Hot Hits,Hottest,Market,Recipe,Ware Fashion,Women

The Quantified::Self Business

Healthrageous offers tools to track progress toward health goals, but its most valuable asset may be data about you.Heal thyself: Healthrageous CEO Rick Lee thinks people will upload health data to social networks.

The genius of Facebook & one of the reasons it is worth more than $50 billion is that it effortlessly collects huge volumes of information by offering people a place to socialize. Healthrageous, a startup in Cambridge, Massachusetts, thinks it may be possible to perform a similar feat in health care.

The company, launched in 2010 by physicians associated with Harvard Medical School, offers its users digital health tracking devices including wireless pedometers, blood pressure monitors, & bathroom scales. Clients use the tools to gather data about themselves & upload it to a website where they can track progress toward goals, get wellness tips, & receive encouragement from friends, coworkers, & family members.

The startup is an offshoot of the small but growing "quantified self" movement, whose members believe that using sensors & recording gadgets to constantly collect data about themselves will lead to better choices about their health & behavior.

Companies such as Healthrageous are now testing whether self tracking for health or other reasons can be sold as a larger scale social experience to employers or the general public. & as with Facebook, says Healthrageous CEO & cofounder Rick Lee, data collected about user behavior may be "the most valuable asset in the company."

"When you start to do large data crunches with different variables & human characteristics, you get some interesting data that would be fascinating in the hands of pharmaceutical researchers looking to develop new drugs," he says.

It's not yet clear how big a business self quantification will turn out to be. Nike tapped into a large market with its wireless pedometers (which relay data from a running shoe to an iPod); many other firms are attempting to build communities through games or free apps to track health problems, although most still have relatively few users.

"Anyone who can code software can write a self quantification app; the question is who can move the world & change business with it," says Paul Wicks, head of research & development for PatientsLikeMe, a site where 115,000 patients with serious illnesses now track their symptoms & medications.

Healthrageous grew out of a 2008 study by researchers at the Center for Connected Health, a division of Partners HealthCare, that focused on people with hypertension who worked for the computing company EMC. These employees were asked to keep track of their blood pressure at home, & participants got feedback on their progress. The program proved so successful at lowering blood pressure that an independent reviewer estimated a three to one financial return, predicting that some EMC staffers would avoid heart attacks & strokes as a result of feedback they received.

On the basis of that success, the center's director, Joseph Kvedar, decided to commercialize the technology. It consists of an interactive software platform that collects data from wireless health tracking sensors such as pedometers & glucose monitors. The information is uploaded to Healthrageous's website, where it is then analyzed & returned to the user via smart phone within a few seconds.

Those data streams allow Healthrageous to give customized advice. For example, the program might ask whether a user wants to lower blood pressure through diet & exercise or with the help of medication. "We could then respond to those who say they want to do it naturally & say research has found that people who exceed 10,000 steps per day have a greater likelihood of bringing systolic blood pressure down to 120," says Lee. Users would then try to increase the amount they walk & wear pedometers to assess whether they were succeeding, with the software providing encouragement in a variety of ways.

Healthrageous is currently marketing its service to large employers & health plans & charging them per user fees. So far, Lee says, the company has seven clients including the Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary & about 1,600 users who will generate approximately $500,000 in revenue this year. But Lee says that Healthrageous, which has raised $8.5 million from investors, has plans to open the service to the general public next year.

Lee believes Healthrageous's value will increase dramatically if more people begin using the service. That's already happened with companies like Google & Netflix, whose algorithms build on users' previous behavior to customize ads or movie suggestions. "We need large volumes of people moving through the system so we can hone pattern recognition technology we have been developing," he says. "If we can match up who you are with changes you focus on, then we can start to map key personal characteristics that lead to successful behavioral change."

The real life data collected by such services is already proving enticing to marketers. PatientsLikeMe makes money by selling users' health data to pharmaceutical companies. Jacqueline Thong, founder of Ubiqi, a startup that developed a free phone app migraine sufferers can use to track what sets off their headaches, says she's also been approached by organizations interested in tapping the company's database.

Other self tracking companies are making their databases available to developers for free, with the hope that they will create new apps that bring in more users. For instance, Zeo, a startup located in Newtonville, Massachusetts, currently makes its money by selling a popular sleep tracking device. But Zeo also claims to have amassed the largest at home sleep database in the world. It has opened up that database to developers & scientists so they can conduct their own research or integrate Zeo's device with other self tracking systems.

As it has with Facebook, selling personal data is certain to raise privacy concerns. Healthrageous's Lee says his company plans to market the insights it gleans from its data, rather than the raw data itself. PatientsLikeMe, however, explicitly tells users that any information they share except identifying details, such as name & e mail address may be shared with pharmaceutical companies or other partners. Given that PatientsLikeMe has more than 100,000 members, users seem confident that the tools it offers, & the hope of medical advances generated from their data, are worth the loss of privacy.

Read more »

Posted in: Home business,Internet Business,Market,Women

The Quantified::Self Business

Healthrageous offers tools to track progress toward health goals, but its most valuable asset may be data about you.Heal thyself: Healthrageous CEO Rick Lee thinks people will upload health data to social networks.

The genius of Facebook & one of the reasons it is worth more than $50 billion is that it effortlessly collects huge volumes of information by offering people a place to socialize. Healthrageous, a startup in Cambridge, Massachusetts, thinks it may be possible to perform a similar feat in health care.

The company, launched in 2010 by physicians associated with Harvard Medical School, offers its users digital health tracking devices including wireless pedometers, blood pressure monitors, & bathroom scales. Clients use the tools to gather data about themselves & upload it to a website where they can track progress toward goals, get wellness tips, & receive encouragement from friends, coworkers, & family members.

The startup is an offshoot of the small but growing "quantified self" movement, whose members believe that using sensors & recording gadgets to constantly collect data about themselves will lead to better choices about their health & behavior.

Companies such as Healthrageous are now testing whether self tracking for health or other reasons can be sold as a larger scale social experience to employers or the general public. & as with Facebook, says Healthrageous CEO & cofounder Rick Lee, data collected about user behavior may be "the most valuable asset in the company."

"When you start to do large data crunches with different variables & human characteristics, you get some interesting data that would be fascinating in the hands of pharmaceutical researchers looking to develop new drugs," he says.

It's not yet clear how big a business self quantification will turn out to be. Nike tapped into a large market with its wireless pedometers (which relay data from a running shoe to an iPod); many other firms are attempting to build communities through games or free apps to track health problems, although most still have relatively few users.

"Anyone who can code software can write a self quantification app; the question is who can move the world & change business with it," says Paul Wicks, head of research & development for PatientsLikeMe, a site where 115,000 patients with serious illnesses now track their symptoms & medications.

Healthrageous grew out of a 2008 study by researchers at the Center for Connected Health, a division of Partners HealthCare, that focused on people with hypertension who worked for the computing company EMC. These employees were asked to keep track of their blood pressure at home, & participants got feedback on their progress. The program proved so successful at lowering blood pressure that an independent reviewer estimated a three to one financial return, predicting that some EMC staffers would avoid heart attacks & strokes as a result of feedback they received.

On the basis of that success, the center's director, Joseph Kvedar, decided to commercialize the technology. It consists of an interactive software platform that collects data from wireless health tracking sensors such as pedometers & glucose monitors. The information is uploaded to Healthrageous's website, where it is then analyzed & returned to the user via smart phone within a few seconds.

Those data streams allow Healthrageous to give customized advice. For example, the program might ask whether a user wants to lower blood pressure through diet & exercise or with the help of medication. "We could then respond to those who say they want to do it naturally & say research has found that people who exceed 10,000 steps per day have a greater likelihood of bringing systolic blood pressure down to 120," says Lee. Users would then try to increase the amount they walk & wear pedometers to assess whether they were succeeding, with the software providing encouragement in a variety of ways.

Healthrageous is currently marketing its service to large employers & health plans & charging them per user fees. So far, Lee says, the company has seven clients including the Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary & about 1,600 users who will generate approximately $500,000 in revenue this year. But Lee says that Healthrageous, which has raised $8.5 million from investors, has plans to open the service to the general public next year.

Lee believes Healthrageous's value will increase dramatically if more people begin using the service. That's already happened with companies like Google & Netflix, whose algorithms build on users' previous behavior to customize ads or movie suggestions. "We need large volumes of people moving through the system so we can hone pattern recognition technology we have been developing," he says. "If we can match up who you are with changes you focus on, then we can start to map key personal characteristics that lead to successful behavioral change."

The real life data collected by such services is already proving enticing to marketers. PatientsLikeMe makes money by selling users' health data to pharmaceutical companies. Jacqueline Thong, founder of Ubiqi, a startup that developed a free phone app migraine sufferers can use to track what sets off their headaches, says she's also been approached by organizations interested in tapping the company's database.

Other self tracking companies are making their databases available to developers for free, with the hope that they will create new apps that bring in more users. For instance, Zeo, a startup located in Newtonville, Massachusetts, currently makes its money by selling a popular sleep tracking device. But Zeo also claims to have amassed the largest at home sleep database in the world. It has opened up that database to developers & scientists so they can conduct their own research or integrate Zeo's device with other self tracking systems.

As it has with Facebook, selling personal data is certain to raise privacy concerns. Healthrageous's Lee says his company plans to market the insights it gleans from its data, rather than the raw data itself. PatientsLikeMe, however, explicitly tells users that any information they share except identifying details, such as name & e mail address may be shared with pharmaceutical companies or other partners. Given that PatientsLikeMe has more than 100,000 members, users seem confident that the tools it offers, & the hope of medical advances generated from their data, are worth the loss of privacy.

Read more »

Posted in: Home business,Internet Business,Market,Women

GPS Data on Beijing Cabs Reveals the Cause of Traffic Jams

[ Communications ]

The data could lead to novel urban planning solutions that would work in sprawling cities everywhere.

Traffic tracking: To understand the causes of Beijing’s traffic problems, researchers divided the city into regions, shown above, & analyzed the ways that taxis travel between them.
Microsoft Research Asia.

Beijing is a city famous for traffic jams. In 2006, rush hour reportedly lasted 11 hours a day, & the city has been called a "virtual car park" during daylight hours. As in most major cities, urban planners have been trying for years to relieve the pressure by adding new roads or public transit lines, or providing better enforcement for traffic laws.

Now a group working at Microsoft Research Asia has shown that tracking the location of taxicabs could be a better way to identify the underlying problems with a city's transportation network, helping officials determine how to best ease congestion.

The researchers used GPS data from more than 33,000 Beijing taxicabs. That data was collected in 2009 & 2010. The researchers were not just looking for bottlenecks—trouble spots that regular commuters may know only too well. "[Congested] road segments are only the appearance—they're not the problem," says Yu Zheng, who led the research. "We try to identify the true source of the problem in our work."

The researchers presented their work last week at the 13th International Conference on Ubiquitous Computing, which took place in Beijing.

To get at underlying causes of traffic problems, the researchers needed to get information about the trips people are taking—where journeys start, finish, & how a commuter travels in between. The researchers divided Beijing into regions & analyzed the taxi data to find places where two regions weren't properly connected.

Even if a taxi never encounters a slowdown, clues from the trip can indicate an underlying problem with urban planning. For example, the taxi driver might take a circuitous route from point A to point B, instead of a direct one. The added distance could indicate that the driver knows about a problem with what appears to be the fastest route.

The researchers' algorithms indicate when the network of roads & subway lines between two regions cannot support the number of people traveling between those regions. By pointing out underlying problems, the system shows urban planners where to focus their attention, Zheng says.

In some cases, Zheng says, the busy regions aren't really the ones that are flawed. For example, it may be that people from region 1 are going through region 2 on their way to region 3, in which case it may be better to connect region 1 & 3 directly, rather than trying to widen highways in region 2.

The researchers evaluated their system by examining how their calculations changed as Beijing's transportation network evolved during the two-year period they monitored. They found that when city planners added new connections between regions that algorithms had identified as flawed, conditions did indeed improve. Where flaws were identified but not fixed, traffic conditions did not improve.

Zheng says the system could easily be adapted for any city that has a large number of taxicabs—many of which struggle with traffic in their own right. Beijing ranks fourth in the world for number of cabs. The top 10 includes Mexico City, Bangkok, Tokyo, New York, Buenos Aires, & Moscow. Zheng says that, with enough data, his techniques would work as well there as they do for Beijing.

"I think this is an interesting direction, though I wonder to what extent the real problem in urban planning is not having the resources—money—to do anything about it," says Sam Madden, an associate professor at the MIT Computer Science & Artificial Intelligence Laboratory who studies wireless sensor networks, including GPS units.

Madden adds that the huge quantity of data the researchers amassed—enough to analyze every road in a city—makes the work impressive. Even a few years ago, he says, it would have been a challenge to get so much information about road conditions. For his own research, Madden put GPS sensors on taxis to gather data, but cost & difficulty limited him to tagging tens of taxis, not thousands.

Read more »

Posted in: Business,Entertainment,Internet Business,Latest Technolgoy,Market,Microsoft

GPS Data on Beijing Cabs Reveals the Cause of Traffic Jams

[ Communications ]

The data could lead to novel urban planning solutions that would work in sprawling cities everywhere.

Traffic tracking: To understand the causes of Beijing’s traffic problems, researchers divided the city into regions, shown above, & analyzed the ways that taxis travel between them.
Microsoft Research Asia.

Beijing is a city famous for traffic jams. In 2006, rush hour reportedly lasted 11 hours a day, & the city has been called a "virtual car park" during daylight hours. As in most major cities, urban planners have been trying for years to relieve the pressure by adding new roads or public transit lines, or providing better enforcement for traffic laws.

Now a group working at Microsoft Research Asia has shown that tracking the location of taxicabs could be a better way to identify the underlying problems with a city's transportation network, helping officials determine how to best ease congestion.

The researchers used GPS data from more than 33,000 Beijing taxicabs. That data was collected in 2009 & 2010. The researchers were not just looking for bottlenecks—trouble spots that regular commuters may know only too well. "[Congested] road segments are only the appearance—they're not the problem," says Yu Zheng, who led the research. "We try to identify the true source of the problem in our work."

The researchers presented their work last week at the 13th International Conference on Ubiquitous Computing, which took place in Beijing.

To get at underlying causes of traffic problems, the researchers needed to get information about the trips people are taking—where journeys start, finish, & how a commuter travels in between. The researchers divided Beijing into regions & analyzed the taxi data to find places where two regions weren't properly connected.

Even if a taxi never encounters a slowdown, clues from the trip can indicate an underlying problem with urban planning. For example, the taxi driver might take a circuitous route from point A to point B, instead of a direct one. The added distance could indicate that the driver knows about a problem with what appears to be the fastest route.

The researchers' algorithms indicate when the network of roads & subway lines between two regions cannot support the number of people traveling between those regions. By pointing out underlying problems, the system shows urban planners where to focus their attention, Zheng says.

In some cases, Zheng says, the busy regions aren't really the ones that are flawed. For example, it may be that people from region 1 are going through region 2 on their way to region 3, in which case it may be better to connect region 1 & 3 directly, rather than trying to widen highways in region 2.

The researchers evaluated their system by examining how their calculations changed as Beijing's transportation network evolved during the two-year period they monitored. They found that when city planners added new connections between regions that algorithms had identified as flawed, conditions did indeed improve. Where flaws were identified but not fixed, traffic conditions did not improve.

Zheng says the system could easily be adapted for any city that has a large number of taxicabs—many of which struggle with traffic in their own right. Beijing ranks fourth in the world for number of cabs. The top 10 includes Mexico City, Bangkok, Tokyo, New York, Buenos Aires, & Moscow. Zheng says that, with enough data, his techniques would work as well there as they do for Beijing.

"I think this is an interesting direction, though I wonder to what extent the real problem in urban planning is not having the resources—money—to do anything about it," says Sam Madden, an associate professor at the MIT Computer Science & Artificial Intelligence Laboratory who studies wireless sensor networks, including GPS units.

Madden adds that the huge quantity of data the researchers amassed—enough to analyze every road in a city—makes the work impressive. Even a few years ago, he says, it would have been a challenge to get so much information about road conditions. For his own research, Madden put GPS sensors on taxis to gather data, but cost & difficulty limited him to tagging tens of taxis, not thousands.

Read more »

Posted in: Business,Entertainment,Internet Business,Latest Technolgoy,Market,Microsoft