Category Archives: Technology

Museum of Discovery exhibit shows how people with disabilities use technology to readjust

Jamal Goss , KTHV 6:09 PM. CDT May 27, 2017

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) -- The threat of rain for part of the weekend proves the value in having some indoor ideas to keep the kids busy.

The Museum of Discovery opened a new exhibit Saturday that gets kids thinking about STEM. It's all about innovation and getting people to think outside the box.

The new Human Plus: Real Lives + Real Engineering exhibit has a ton of creative and fun ways that show how people with disabilities use technology to readjust, but be careful there's a lot of kids learning a lot of cools things about technology. Alex Palmer works for the new exhibit.

"We just had our human plus engineering exhibit open up, it's all about the engineering of prostatic and the human body, Palmer said. "It's just letting people know about the world and what goes on."

Inside, kids learn different functions of prosthetic limbs and how they help people carry out their day to day functions. Each station explores different ways people with disabilities use high-tech engineering to overcome the impossible. It's helping ignite a passion for science, technology, and math for people of all ages.

"We can draw a lot of cool art and show how different colors can come together, Palmer said. And just create something really amazing."

Funded by the National Science Foundation, Palmer said it opens the minds of children, exposing them to things they may have never seen before. It's family day for Fonz Jenkins along with his niece and nephews.

"I used to come here as a kid when I was living here, Jenkins said. So I thought I'd let them experience the same thing I experienced when I was a kid."

He's impressed with how the museum keeps children engaged.

"We get to meet so many cool people from all over the world, Palmer said. Nigeria, China all over the United States that come and visit here and learn so much about the natural world and about science."

The exhibit will remain open at the Museum of Discovery until September 10th. Admission is $10 for adults and $8 for children. More information can be found here.

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Museum of Discovery exhibit shows how people with disabilities use technology to readjust - THV 11

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At Berkshire Hathaway's (NYSE: BRK-B) annual meeting earlier this month, an investor asked Warren Buffett about the company's shift from investing in high-return, asset-light businesses to capital-intensive businesses, such as railroad operator Burlington Northern. Whether this shift is actually occurring or not can be argued, but Buffett agreed with the questioner about the idea of investing in businesses that return gobs of capital with minimal investment. He said, "Buying a high return on assets, very light capital-intensive business that's going to grow beats the hell out of a business that requires a lot of capital to grow."

This isn't the first time that Buffett has expressed his fondness for a business with high returns, low capital requirements, and high growth. However, after reiterating his ideal business characteristics, Buffett's followers are likely clamoring to find the next company that matches a few of the Oracle's investing criteria. Let's see if Cognizant Technology(NASDAQ: CTSH)fits the bill.

Cognizant is in the IT services business, providing consulting and professional services to a variety of clients. With over 260,000 employees, its greatest assets are its people rather than equipment or software. As a result, Cognizant has been able to generate gobs of cash.

Data source: Thomson Reuters. Chart by author. All numbers in millions.

Despite the dip in 2016, Cognizant's management has done a solid job generating cash. The company also recently began paying a $0.15 per share dividend and announced a plan to return 75% of its free cash flow to shareholders, through either share buybacks or dividends.

While free cash flow is a great metric to analyze a company's performance, a better measure to see if management is adding value is return on equity (ROE). Over the trailing 12 months, Cognizant's ROE came in at 16.5%. While impressive, the downward decline over the past five years is concerning.

A declining ROE is often a sign of either increased competitive pressures or that the company is earning less and less on each dollar invested by its shareholders. A lack of value-added investment opportunities may also be the reason for the company's new shareholder return program. On a positive note, in its most recent quarter ending in March, Cognizant's ROE increased to 22.3%. Assuming the bump is not a head fake, an increasing ROE combined with a strong capital return program can be a boonfor Cognizant shareholders.

High returns on assets with low capital requirements are often a recipe for a solid investment. However, if you can combine those two traits with high growth, you may be looking at a great investment. Let's see where Cognizant stands in terms of growth.

According to data from S&P Capital IQ, Cognizant has grown its revenue at 17.1% annualized over the last five years. Earnings and cash flow growth didn't come in as strong but are fairly solid at 12.3% and 13.8%, respectively, over the same period. Despite strong growth over the last half decade, growthhas slowed more recently as the company has matured. In its latest quarter, revenue growth slowed to 10.7%.

Despite the slowing growth, Cognizant is not resting on its laurels. The company has been aggressively making acquisitions in the fast-growing digital technology space, gobbling up smaller consultant firms like Idea Couture, Mirabeau, and Adaptra. On March 1, Cognizant made its seventh acquisition in just one year by purchasing Japan-based Brilliant Service Co. Ltd.

Cognizant appears to meet Buffett's criteria of achieving high returns, having low capital requirements, and growth. However, there are some concerns about declining returns and slowing growth. That growth also appears to be more and more dependent on acquisitions. Additionally, given Cognizant's footprint in the technology space, I wouldn't exactly call the IT services company an ideal Buffett investment.

10 stocks we like better than Cognizant Technology Solutions

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Palbir Nijjar owns shares of Berkshire Hathaway (B shares) and Cognizant Technology Solutions. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Berkshire Hathaway (B shares) and Cognizant Technology Solutions. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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Does Cognizant Technology Fit the Bill as Buffett's Ideal Business? - Madison.com

Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. expressly grants and prohibits access to certain materials on school provided computers. Here is a quick-hit list of dos and donts included in current school policy.

Students will receive information about appropriate online behavior, including, but not limited to, use of social media to interact with others online, interacting with individuals in chat rooms or on blogs, recognizing cyberbullying and understanding cyberbullying is a violation of corporation policy and learning appropriate responses to cyberbullying.

All computers, telephone systems, electronic mail systems and voice mail systems in the school corporation are the school corporations property and are to be used for business purposes. BCSC reserves the right to access and review all electronic and voice mail, computer files, databases or any electronic transmissions in its system and staff members should have no expectation that any information contained on such systems is confidential or private.

The Student Code of Conduct governs students use of the corporations personal communication devices (computers, tablets, e-readers, cellphones, smartphones or any other web-related device) and applies to devices connected to the corporations network, the corporations Internet connection or online educational services (Ed-Tech).

BCSC has implemented technology protection measures (those that filter or block) access to visual displays or materials that are obscene, constitute child pornography and/or are harmful to minors, as defined by the Childrens Internet Protection Act. The school corporation also has technology to monitor online activity of students to restrict access to these materials that could be harmful to minors.

The director of technology may temporarily or permanently unblock access to websites or online education services containing appropriate material, if access to such sites has been inappropriately blocked by the filters. The determination of whether material is appropriate, or inappropriate, shall be based on the content of the material and the intended use of the material.

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BCSC technology guidelines on the web - The Republic

If you thought that wearable computing was the stuff of science fiction movies, companies like Vuzix are bringing this technology to life. With a Smart Glasses range for enterprise and entertainment; hands-free, digital eyewear is becoming an accessible option for all. Why would you want a computer directly in front of your eyes? Here are a few of the benefits this latest technology brings.

With a range designed for business and industry, Smart Glasses can increase worker productivity from the factory to the office. Through a pair of intelligent glasses, your workers get a functioning Android-based computer on the tip of their noses. With all the capabilities of a smartphone and compatible with Android apps, now they can wear their computers and leave their hands free to carry out pertinent tasks simultaneously.

In warehousing and manufacturing, workers can fulfil more orders, scanning a barcode by simply looking at it. They no longer have to stop and consult their tablet or smartphone, but have their hands free to carry out orders, load produce, or operate machinery. In fields like telemedicine, workers can recall pertinent data in instants, while helping serve patients quicker.

Compatible with the almost 3 million apps available in Google Play, the wearer can use Smart Glasses for just about any program or function. They can take pictures through a high definition camera, play videos, record, and link the Smart Glasses to their phones to make calls, send messages and place orders. This can greatly speed up your company workflow.

The live streaming function is particularly helpful to employees who work in remote and hard-to-reach locations. The wearer can connect to a computer (or computers) at any location, allowing others to get a visual on exactly what the viewer is seeing in real time. This brings unsurpassed possibilities for remote tech support, employees working on an external site and first responders.

With the live streaming capability, surgeons and other specialists can get an accurate visual on the situation without having to be there, or rely on voice commentary of events under stress. Remote technicians working on site can solve a problem on the first call out, without the need to assess and return. This makes for augmented worker productivity, reduced cost, and can help save lives in an accident and emergency situation.

Smart Glasses have the potential to change the way many businesses work, from the operating room to the factory floor, telemedicine and remote tech support. Theyre also proving useful in the field of employee learning and practical training. Allowing the wearer to view the computerized image, as well as their actual surroundings. They can watch a tutorial and follow instructions at the same time.

Healthcare workers, for example, can learn on the job and carry out important maneuvers, such as CPR, while receiving exact indications on their screen. White collar workers can take notes, carry out exercises and interact with training videos, speeding up the learning curve.

Smart Glasses can transmit the exact coordinates of the wearers location, with GPS, gyroscope and a compasses system integrated. So, you can follow your field workers into hard to locate areas without risk of losing their location. This can reduce accidents and make your workers jobs safer.

The iWear model allows the wearer to get into the cockpit of the drone by providing a widescreen, immersive view. The screen size is the equivalent of a 125 screen viewed from 10 feet with 24-bit true color. Theres also an optional full immersion face mask for where outside distractions are not an option; making this technology suitable for the military, science and geology.

With a built-in battery, the drone pilot can participate in the activity for hours, with crystal clear audio and added noise isolation. This enhances the accuracy and safety of using drone technology.

In the entertainment industry, iWear has won multiple Consumer Electronic Show awards. Working like a high-end pair of video headphones, the user gets a wearable video display that provides a high definition gaming solution.

Vuzix slogan is view the future, but it seems as if theyre actually bringing the future into the here and now. Making waves in the gaming and entertainment industry, the field of drones, medicine and enterprise. Increasing worker productivity in the factory, helping first responders do their jobs, facilitating training, and even saving lives.

Read next: Rumors spread on WhatsApp lead to mob violence and death in India

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Smart glass technology is making wearable computers accessible - TNW

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Campers at CodeREV Kids can learn different skills, including robotics, game design and engineering.

Campers at CodeREV Kids can learn different skills, including robotics, game design and engineering.

Activities at CodeREV Kids are project based so students are able to engage with the lessons and explore their own creativity.

Activities at CodeREV Kids are project based so students are able to engage with the lessons and explore their own creativity.

Courses for summer 2017 are organized into four tracks game design, programming, engineering and creative.

Courses for summer 2017 are organized into four tracks game design, programming, engineering and creative.

Bay Area locations include two in San Francisco, one in Mountain View and another in San Jose

Bay Area locations include two in San Francisco, one in Mountain View and another in San Jose

Discovering technology, engineering at camp

For the past three years, CodeREV Kids, a summer camp dedicated to teaching youth about coding and other technology fields, has grown to more than 10 locations. The rapid growth is a direct result of an increase in demand for these skills, said Bryan Curran, director of operations.

The CodeREV Kids curriculum, developed with the help of professors at Stanford, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard, is project based so students are able to engage with the lessons and explore their own creativity, Curran said. Campers are able to take home their work via email or Google Drive to share with family and friends or continue working on projects at home.

He added that no prior tech experience is necessary and students can pick and choose what they study if they attend multiple weeks.

Even if they just have a passive interest in technology, this is a great way for them to jump in and get their feet wet, Curran said. And with a lot to choose from, they can decide what subsection peaks their interest most.

CodeREV Kids was founded by Evan Boorman, a STEM teacher with more than 14 years of experience teaching students who both excel and struggle with STEM concepts. By learning coding, technology and robotics, students will begin to see how math and engineering can be used to build fun and useful things.

Camp groups have a 8-1 student-teacher ratio, but Curran said most are smaller, which allows campers to go more in-depth with what theyre learning. And the curriculum changes each week, so if campers only want to do the code-focused camp, they wont be repeating material.

Most kids do a bunch of different courses, but weve also had some kids do one the entire summer but there are different challenges and options each week, Curran said.

In addition to classroom work, campers will spend some of the day outdoors participating in games designed to exercise the body and mind while building social-emotional skills. Games include reverse tag, obstacle courses, capture the flag and freeze dance.

Courses for summer 2017 are organized into four tracks game design, programming, engineering and creative. Within those categories are several weeklong classes, including video game development, adventures in programming, REV robotics and 3D modeling among others.

These are all skills students will need as they enter the workforce, Curran said. Staff and instructors are experts in the fields they are teaching and Curran said many of them lead spring break and after school classes so they are equipped to teach tech concepts to children using easily digestible but relevant curriculum.

Tech is the fastest growing job sector on the market right now and with parents thinking about the future of their children's careers, even those who arent tech focused, are going to need these skills, he said. Theyre going to need to morph and adopt as technology changes [so] its really important for children to get their hands on these experiences from a young age.

But more than anything, Curran said he hopes students enjoy camp.

I want them to know theyre going to have a super awesome time this summer. We have a blast, he said.

The camps for ages 6 to 16 and they run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily. They start at $545 per week. Partial scholarships are available to students who qualify for free and reduced lunch and are awarded on a first come, first served basis.

CodeREV Kids

Bay Area locations include two in San Francisco, one in Mountain View and another in San Jose. To register or for more information visit coderevkids.com.

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Discovering technology, engineering at camp - SFGate

Edwards Air Force Base has tested billions of dollars in defense-related technology over the course of its history, from the sound barrier-busting Bell X-1 to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

But this week, researchers at the base in eastern Kern County tested an innovative use of already existing technology cobbled together for a whopping 1,600 bucks.

On Tuesday, two teams at Edwards collaborated for the first flight test of what they described as a remotely piloted parachute system that could save thousands of dollars in operational testing costs, said Chris Klug, a technical advisor from the bases XCITE innovation team who sponsored the project from start to finish.

Its really similar to the hydraulics on a tractor, but its electrical rather than hydraulics, Klug said of the inexpensive system.

The 412th Operations Support Squadron Airdrop Research and Development Parachute Test Team now you know why the military uses acronyms and the innovation team worked together to develop the low-cost, locally built guidance system.

Theres been a renewed focus, Klug said, on harnessing the innovative minds of people throughout our organization. And this project, designed and built by team member Trever Bush, is just one example.

Before a new parachute is ever used by humans, it is dropped using mannequins, or dummies, specifically designed for parachute testing. Once clear of the aircraft, the mannequins are typically at the mercy of the winds as they obviously cannot control the toggles the parachute's control handles.

The remote system is designed to manipulate the toggles, Bush said, much the same way a live jumper would, allowing some control over the descent of the parachute and its cargo.

And on Tuesday, they tried it out for the first time, as seen in the video accompanying this story. An operator on the ground remotely controlled the toggles.

According to the team, this added control could save money by minimizing damage to the mannequins which cost $3,000 each and by cutting the time required to recover them after tests.

Also, when the parachutes fly off course theres more chance of incurring damage to the chutes themselves. At $15,000 a pop, thats not insignificant.

The quality of the test data is also improved.

The data becomes more valuable, Bush said. We are able to test the limits more without risking lives.

Bush thinks the technology could also be valuable in parachute cargo drops, and hopes to eventually begin testing for those heavier payloads.

Solutions to problems don't always have to be million-dollar ideas, Klug said. Sometimes they come from the minds of civilian employees at $1,600 a pop.

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Unmanned parachute test proves not every technology at Edwards Air Force Base in eastern Kern is a billion-dollar ... - The Bakersfield Californian

Forbes

There Will Be 30 Technology Companies In 2030, 10 in 2050, And Then There Will Be None Forbes Two things are happening simultaneously. First, the old technology industry hardware, software, communications and services companies is rapidly consolidating. Second, technology companies and other vertical companies are morphing into entities ...

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There Will Be 30 Technology Companies In 2030, 10 in 2050, And Then There Will Be None - Forbes

A Goldman Sachs analyst thinks that Micron Technology's (NASDAQ:MU) terrific run on the stock market in the past year will hit a roadblock very soon. Mark Delaney earlier this month cut the high-flying memory specialist's rating from buy to neutral and reduced the price target to $30, indicating that the stock can't deliver any more upside.

Still, investors seem unfazed by the analyst's action and the stock is up slightly since the downgrade was reported May 8. Delaney believes that a potential weakness in DRAM memory prices is going to derail the chipmaker's growth, but the demand dynamics indicate otherwise.

Image source: Micron Technology.

Goldman Sachs' DRAM supply chain checks indicate that a 46% jump in capital spending in DRAM equipment over the past two quarters is leading to a slowdown in pricing. However, the DRAM market is traditionally weak during April and May as demand remains weak until the back-to-school season kicks in, according to DRAMeXchange.

The back half of the year is a seasonally strong one for DRAM demand as OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) start preparing for the holiday season, stocking up more inventory. Therefore, the recent spot price weakness seems seasonal.

Additionally, DRAM demand is set to hit a higher gear in 2017, thanks to an estimated 33% jump in average memory content in smartphones, per research from market intelligence firm TrendForce. Meanwhile, the average selling price of server DRAM used in data centers is rising as demand is exceeding supply.

The DRAM market is witnessing short supply at the moment as the likes of Samsung and SK Hynix are still using older processes to manufacture chips. This is great news for Micron as the chipmaker is already moving to the more advanced 18nm node, while Samsung and SK Hynix will start making the move later in the year.

This gives Micron a competitive advantage that should help it corner more of the DRAM market and take advantage of the tight supply. More importantly, DRAM prices should witness secular growth as their use in specialty applications such as graphics cards increases.

For instance, NVIDIA is using Micron's GDDR5X DRAM in its latest flagship graphics card. This could be a big deal for Micron as graphic card shipments are expected to boom in the next few years, and NVIDIA leads this space. IC Insights forecasts that the various catalysts will boost memory shipments at an annual pace of 5.6% until 2021.

Micron currently trades at a price-to-earnings ratio of 45 but potentially strong earnings growth over the next year puts its forward P/E multiple at just 5.6. This isn't surprising as analysts see Micron's earnings jumping from just $0.06 per share in fiscal year 2016 to $4.28 per share in fiscal 2017, which ends in September. What's more, Wall Street expects the bottom-line momentum to continue in FY 2018, with earnings predicted to grow to $5.13 per share.

Micron shouldn't find it too difficult to achieve the earnings estimates set by Wall Street as stronger DRAM prices and lower bit costs should push margins higher. For instance, Micron's second-quarter DRAM gross margin jumped 16 percentage points sequentially to 44%, taking its overall non-GAAP gross margin to 38.5%.

The massive jump was a result of a 6% drop in DRAM bit costs, and the good news is that Micron's bit costs should keep declining as the transition to the 18nm process continues. In fact, investment research firm Susquehanna forecasts that the new process could help Micron cut DRAM costs by 20% per gigabyte.

Investors haven't paid much heed to the recent downgrade, as you can see from the chart below.

MU data by YCharts

And that makes sense. There is still room for memory prices to grow, while Micron seems well-placed to reduce costs thanks to an advanced manufacturing process that will create a positive impact on its earnings and help drive more upside.

Harsh Chauhan has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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Why Micron Technology Investors Are Ignoring This Downgrade - Motley Fool

Forbes

Fracking, Now The Dominant Technology, Will Keep Oil Price Around $55: Goldman Sachs Forbes Oil prices may rise or fall in the short-term, but they will return to a range of $55 to $65 in the long term because that's the price of oil from fracking shale wells, the Goldman Sachs head of research said in Chicago Wednesday. Oil prices today were ...

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Fracking, Now The Dominant Technology, Will Keep Oil Price Around $55: Goldman Sachs - Forbes

Blockchain, the cryptographic technology behind the digital currency bitcoin, could also be adapted for environmental purposes, such as guaranteeing that fish sold to consumers comefrom labeled sources, such as these salmon farms in Norway.

Andrey Armyagov/Alamy Stock Photo

By Matthew HutsonMay. 22, 2017 , 2:00 PM

If youve heard of bitcoins, it may have been in the context of people using the digital currency to pay off ransom demands for the contents of their hacked computers or buy drugs on the dark web. But the underlying cryptographic technology, a growing chain of time-stamped records or blocks that is shared between many computers, forming a blockchain, could also be used to help save the environment, according to a commentary published today in Nature by Guillaume Chapron, an ecologist at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Riddarhyttan. Science spoke with him about the future of money, the government, and trust. This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

Q: What is a blockchain?

A: The blockchainby which I mean the technology underlying all blockchainsis a protocol to build an immutable ledger, a database of transactions. You could say its a kind of decentralized supercomputer that creates trust.

Q: How can it help the environment?

A: Environmental problems emerge because we lack trust. The environmental crisis grows in a fertile ground, which is the multiplication of intermediaries. To take an example, if you buy a fish at the supermarket, the supply chain is very long. The supermarket might not even know where it came from. And so there are multiple opportunities for environmentally unsustainable goods to enter the supply chain. A blockchain-based supply chain would mean that when you buy a fish, you scan a QR code [like a bar code] with your smartphone, and you see every step. And you know that it cannot be falsified.

The blockchain can also change how we treat ownership. In many developing countries, land rights are not properly defined and a government or a company could claim a land that is owned by a local community. So if we were to put a land registry on the blockchain, it would be immutable. We could not falsify that land registry.

The blockchain can also influence policymaking. Blockchain voting is a very cheap and secure way of organizing elections. Now, if you want to organize an election on how to manage a natural resource, whether its a forest or fishery, you need to plan the infrastructure, you need the ballot boxes, you need to tell people to go out and vote that day. That takes a lot of money, a lot of time. And in the end maybe people may not trust the results. With a blockchain, you could vote with a smartphone and your cryptographic identity and achieve strong security.

The fourth way is by changing incentives. A blockchain can ensure that an event will happen. That sounds a bit strange, but if you put a contract on the blockchain, you can include business logic as computer code. When a condition is met, the contract will be automatically executed. For example, we could have satellites remotely monitoring biodiversity, and if we reach a certain amount of biodiversity in an area we could reward the local community with immediate and direct payment. You could say, How are you going to pay communities if they dont have bank accounts, which is the case for about 2 billion people on the planet? Then comes the blockchain again. They can simply create a bitcoin wallet as soon as they have access to the internet.

Q: Are there downsides to the blockchain?

A: There are several downsides. The first one is that the blockchain is still slow. It handles seven transactions per second, compared to 2000 for the Visa network. And then the big irony is that the blockchain is a giant sucker of energy, consuming almost twice that of the whole company Google. Whats needed is to develop a more energy-efficient algorithm. Another disadvantage is, if you have a bitcoin wallet and you lose your private key, your digital signature, then your bitcoinsare lost forever. What we need is to hide the cryptographic complexity in smartphone apps.

Q:Are a lot of ecologists interested in the blockchain approach?

A: Im not aware of any other academic papers that linkthe blockchain to how it can help the environment. We need more development. We have FinTech, which is using new computer technology to help the financial industry, but I am proposing the term SusTech, which is using new technology like the blockchain to help sustainability. And the other that has not been much mentioned before is cryptogovernance. We have cryptocurrency, like bitcoin. What I propose is to explore governance that relies on cryptography, through elections and contracts. When people understand more and more what the blockchain will allow, they will have more and more new ideas that we cant imagine today. My paper is intended to stimulate thinking.

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Can bitcoin's cryptographic technology help save the environment? - Science Magazine