Thinking Tech

The integration needed to get even this far is impressive. But there is a lot more to do before real meaning is delivered to ordinary citizens concerning where their money is going.

1 | July 1, 2009 10:00am | By Dana Blankenhorn

A month I ago, I walked into a Bank of America ATM to make a deposit and discovered I would need neither an envelope nor a deposit slip. All I would do is slip the check into a slot and the...

1 | July 1, 2009 7:53am | By John Dodge

Railroads are not the first industry that come to mind when the subject of smart technologies comes up, but you'd be surprised. One nifty software application known as SmartYard is shuttling...

8 | June 30, 2009 12:59pm | By John Dodge

Dr. Farwell calls it BrainFingerprinting, and his rather inelegant Web site is filled with plans to use it against terrorists and then general criminal defendants, even visa applicants. The Iowa...

1 | June 30, 2009 9:49am | By Dana Blankenhorn

C'mon Verizon, Sprint and AT&T! You need to compete, not match each other's price and essentially collude.

2 | June 29, 2009 10:05am | By John Dodge

Because I work in the troubled publishing industry, I see rows of unused cubicles when I think of office space. So why don't companies use just what we need? We are starting to, but many...

4 | June 29, 2009 8:05am | By John Dodge

Staying safe online is no longer as simple as loading an anti-viral at start-up. In addition to malware dressed for special occasions, crooks put malware into useful utilities like those...

3 | June 29, 2009 6:53am | By Dana Blankenhorn

The best template for Immelt's new direction might be Owen Young, who led the company during the Great Depression and made it dominant in home appliances. Immelt's vision turns toward health care,...

2 | June 26, 2009 2:03pm | By Dana Blankenhorn

We are now in the last summer of what I termed in 2006 The Gadget Decade. Gadgets -- cellphones, iPods, handheld game machines -- have defined this decade in technology the way the Internet...

1 | June 26, 2009 1:14pm | By Dana Blankenhorn

Comcast spokesman Jim Hughes called me this morning to clarify that the cable company's expansion of of its digital network has nothing to do with the federally-mandated DTV transition...

1 | June 26, 2009 11:28am | By John Dodge

Does a WiFi network require a deep pockets sponsor, a "big brother" who will take legal responsibility and impose legal conditions on all users? WiFi actually provides the only means we have to...

1 | June 25, 2009 9:11am | By Dana Blankenhorn

My first reaction to installing Digital Transport Adapters (DTAs) for two TVs was, "great, two more things to plug in that will always be on." A quick check of 7x24 energy-siphoning devices such...

1 | June 25, 2009 8:15am | By John Dodge

A study by web site UberCEO.com reveals that an appalling two out of a hundred of 100 America's top CEOs have Twitter accounts (Warren Buffet and Proctor & Gamble's Alan Lafley). Thirteen have...

1 | June 24, 2009 11:58am | By John Dodge

When I was dating long ago, the notion of "biological compatibility (BC)" never entered my mind and I don't know quite what it is now. Maybe, that's why I didn't get dates. But that's the idea...

1 | June 24, 2009 10:25am | By John Dodge

Airborne turbines would harvest the energy and their tethers would deliver electricity to the ground.

1 | June 24, 2009 6:52am | By Dana Blankenhorn

Boeing did the smart thing in taking its lumps this morning disclosing another delay in the hotly anticipated first flight of the 787 Dreamliner. I was anxiously expecting going to Seattle and...

3 | June 23, 2009 9:29am | By John Dodge

Here are the highlights of the Boeing 787 call starting at 10 EDT. The webcast is to explain yet another delay in the first flight and deliveries of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner which was announced...

1 | June 23, 2009 8:08am | By John Dodge

The way to assure new investors a profitable market for long-term projects is to wipe out the price advantage old, unreliable feedstocks. And the best way to grow all manufacturing is to provide...

20 | June 23, 2009 7:29am | By Dana Blankenhorn

I knew something wasn't right. Boeing was supposed fly the much-delayed and ballyhooed Boeing 787 Dreamliner before the end of the month and there are only seven days left. Media types were...

1 | June 23, 2009 6:22am | By John Dodge

Imagine washing your clothes in plastic beads. A start-up in Leeds, U.K. last week demonstrated a washing machine that does just that and in the process promises to use 90% less water and 30% less...

June 22, 2009 11:06am | By John Dodge