Cloud Computing

by Marc Wathieu

Pervasive Computing Technology: A Glimpse of the Next Generation Computer

Article by Mazliza Othman

Pervasive Computing Technology: A Glimpse of the Next Generation Computer – Computers

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What is pervasive computing? It all started in 1991 when Mark Weiser envisioned the next generation computer that weaves themselves into their environment. The next generation computers make themselves invisible and intuitive to use. Computers disappear into the background. If you’re a Star Trek fan, think of the computers in this science fiction series, and you’ll get the idea.

The term coined by Weiser, ubiquitous computing, is now synonymous to pervasive computing.

Computers as they exist today do not integrate themselves into our environment. You’re aware of the fact that you’re using a computer. The PC sits on top of your desk. You carry a laptop or pocket PC around. You need to acquire certain skills in order to use them, e.g. if you want to use a spreadsheet, you have to learn to use it.

Weiser envisioned an environment where computers are integrated into the environment in such a way that users are not even aware of the computers, or that they’re using one. The computers disappear and become unobtrusive.

To illustrate the point, Weiser and his colleagues invented 3 types of devices: a tab, a pad and a board. The devices have no individualized association in they way that you associate a PC or laptop to a particular user, e.g. you can grab a tab and use it without having to figure out how you’re going to configure or personalize it to your needs. A tab is a handheld device and can be easily carried around. You can use it to access your email, chat, or to pop up a reminder for you to ask a colleague to confirm next week’s seminar if you run into him in the hallway. You’d have dozens of this in your environment.

A pad is kind of a digital version of a paper. You can spread it on your desk in the same way you spread papers on your desk.

The digital board replaces today’s whiteboard. When a group of people gather in a room, the system detects that they belong to a project group and automatically downloads the previous discussion points on the board. You can write on the board using a digital pen while sitting a few meters away from it – just point and write.

Pervasive computing integrates computers and a smart environment, and blends them into the background. This technology is changing the way we work, live, and interact with each other.

Let’s look at a few more examples of applications of this technology.

Cowboys on horsebacks herding cattle might one day become a feature of a bygone era as the introduction of virtual fences allows farmers to herd their cattle from the comfort of their homes. The virtual fence is downloaded to the cows by transmitting GPS coordinates to head-collars worn by the cows. The dynamic virtual fences are moved along desired trajectories. The collars are equipped with a Wi-Fi networking card, a Zaurus PDA, an eTrex GPS unit and a loudspeaker that transmits occurring sounds (for example, roaring tigers, barking dogs) when a cow strays from the intended path. This multi-disciplinary project, the brain child of a biologist, is made possible in collaboration with computer scientists.

Sensor technology can potentially play an important role in search and rescue operations by first responders, i.e. emergency personnel, such as firemen, paramedic, and police, who arrive at the scene immediately after an event (e.g. a fire, an earthquake, a building collapse) occurs.

Firemen wear tags to allow easy tracking of their movement in order to coordinate search and rescue operations more effectively. The firemen can be informed if a particular section of a building is found to be unstable and is about to collapse, and is directed to evacuate it immediately. A wireless vital sign monitor is attached to victims found trapped so that their condition can be monitored in order to ensure that they receive the appropriate medical attention as soon as they are rescued.

This non-invasive sensor monitors vital signs such as heart rate, oxygen saturation and serum chemistry measurements. The vital sign monitor helps the paramedic team determine which victims are in more critical conditions so that they can prioritize medical attention to more severely injured victims. The application and architecture required to support this emergency response application is being developed under the CodeBlue project at Harvard University, USA.

Wireless technology is also used in healthcare. The Arrhythmia Monitoring System (AMS) is a medical telemetry (telemedicine) system that makes use of wireless technology to monitor patients suffering from arrhythmia. Among the complications that arise from arrhythmia are the loss of regular heartbeat and subsequent loss of function, and rapid heartbeats.

AMS provides a means for healthcare professionals to continuously monitor a patient’s electrical cardiac rhythms remotely even though the patient is not at the hospital. This technology allows patients to be in the comfort of their homes without jeopardizing their health. It is also useful for monitoring the heart functions of astronauts who are more susceptible to cardiac dysrhythmias when in space.

About the Author

Mazliza Othman is the author of “Principles of Mobile Computing & Communications”. More information is available at http://MobileComputing.MazlizaOthman.com and at her blog http://MobileComputingBlog.Blogspot.com

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Mazliza Othman

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Bloomfield Hills, Michigan (PRWEB) May 14, 2012

JobApp Network, Inc., a national provider of automated hiring and onboarding services for organizations with decentralized workforces, today announced the expansion of its Board of Directors by the addition of industry leaders Shail Arora and Matthew Glotzbach.

Shail Arora brings to the JobApp board a broad range of business skills and deep technical knowledge developed over 25 years of industry experience. Shail currently serves as a Partner and Chief Technology Officer of Vineyard Capital Group, a venture capital firm focused on providing capital, management and technology expertise to rapid growth technology companies. Shail is recognized as an advanced technology leader, as an architect of innovative, cutting-edge software solutions in a variety of business settings. As a co-founder and CEO of Gradepoint, Inc., Shail created one of the first integrated SaaS learning architectures in the industry and was a pioneer in the Live (synchronous) Learning space.

Matthew Glotzbach currently is responsible for the strategy, development and management of YouTube’s business and product direction in Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA). Previously, he led the Apps and Enterprise product divisions within Google. In 2007 he launched Google Apps, Google’s cloud computing suite for business. In the same year he played a key role in the acquisition of the security and compliance company Postini, Google’s third largest acquisition to date. Matthew has over 15 years of experience in Internet technology, product strategy, enterprise product management, marketing and sales.

“The addition of Matthew and Shail to our board dramatically enhances the technical and industry knowledge available to our management team,” said Blake Helppie, JobApp CEO. “Our board has always been a supportive force in our company and the board was active in the recruitment of Shail and Matthew to broaden our industry perspective and technical knowledge base.”

Shail Arora commented, “I am excited to join the board of this dynamic, rapid growth company. JobApp has developed a world-class product that is revolutionizing the automated hiring and onboarding process for companies with high-volume employment needs. It is a privilege to join Matthew Glotzbach and the other distinguished directors to assist JobApp in its continuing growth and technical evolution.”

Matthew Glotzbach added, “As is Shail, I am very pleased to become part of the JobApp organization. I am impressed with the company’s unfailing focus on customer satisfaction as well as with its sophisticated technology solutions and commitment to forging a leadership role in the industry. I look forward to working with the JobApp board, Blake Helppie and the rest of the management team to help guide that effort.”

About JobApp Network JobApp gives any company with a decentralized workforce what it needs to hire the best person for the right job, right now. You identify the top 20 percent of applicants at a glance, engage the best candidates quickly and, just as efficiently, you draw a bead on a new employee’s best next move within your company. But that’s only what the candidate and the person who hires them might see. Behind the scenes, paperwork is eliminated from the entire process, from application (whether by phone or online) right through onboarding and performance management. Hiring compliance? Done. Tax credit eligibility? Handled. Headquartered in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., JobApp is online at http://www.jobappnetwork.com

This press release was distributed through PR Web by Human Resources Marketer (HR Marketer: http://www.HRmarketer.com) on behalf of the company listed above.

In the Plex: How Google Thinks, Works, and Shapes Our Lives

Few companies in history have ever been as successful and as admired as Google, the company that has transformed the Internet and become an indispensable part of our lives. How has Google done it? Veteran technology reporter Steven Levy was granted unprecedented access to the company, and in this revelatory book he takes readers inside Google headquarters—the Googleplex—to show how Google works. While they were still students at Stanford, Google cofounders Larry Page and Sergey Brin revolutionized Internet search. They followed this brilliant innovation with another, as two of Google’s earliest employees found a way to do what no one else had: make billions of dollars from Internet advertising. With this cash cow (until Google’s IPO nobody other than Google management had any idea how lucrative the company’s ad business was), Google was able to expand dramatically and take on other transformative projects: more efficient data centers, open-source cell phones, free Internet video (YouTube), cloud computing, digitizing books, and much more. The key to Google’s success in all these businesses, Levy reveals, is its engineering mind-set and adoption of such Internet values as speed, openness, experimentation, and risk taking. After its unapologetically elitist approach to hiring, Google pampers its engineers—free food and dry cleaning, on-site doctors and masseuses—and gives them all the resources they need to succeed. Even today, with a workforce of more than 23,000, Larry Page signs off on every hire. But has Google lost its innovative edge? It stumbled badly in China—Levy discloses what went wrong and how Brin disagreed with his peers on the China strategy—and now with its newest initiative, social networking, Google is chasing a successful competitor for the first time. Some employees are leaving the company for smaller, nimbler start-ups. Can the company that famously decided not to be

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