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Although this post shall be mainly about Google, I will start with another example: Amazon. If you bought a few times at Amazon, you will notice something when you visit their website. They give you recommendations on what to buy next. And most of the time this recommendations are pretty good, most of the time you would really like to own one of the products they recommend.

And probably everyone nowadays knows how they do it. They track everything a user does, from simple browsing, over searches to purchases and put together a profile of each customer or visitor. They compile a really huge database out of this pieces of information. And then they link this pieces together. The process is called “Data Mining“.

An Example: with the help of fancy algorithms and statistical analysis techniques they discover: 100 people bought the latest album by “The Killers”. 15% of those people also bought the latest album by “The Strokes”. So they reason if you bought the latest Storkes album you might also be interested in the Killers album.

This is of course only a very simple example as it only includes 2 features. Considering how many visitors, purchases and products Amazon has.. well. The data they have at their disposal should be quite good. By now they have probably a profile of every single one of us. Although you never bought anything at Amazon, your profile might just be in their database. Humans are not so different.

And what about Google? Do they create profiles of their users too? Hell yes. And the data they can gather from their users might be even better. Here’s a (incomplete) list of services Google offers and my ideas of what data they could gather from that.

• Search:
  They analyse the keywords you type in, the search results you click and the sponsored links (ads) you click upon. They get a really huge profile of your search habits if you use the Personalized Search Service. Also if you have a personalized homepage all keywords may be tracked back to you.
• Gmail:
  Obviously: they scan your e-mails for keywords to put together ads. They can get a pretty good idea of what you’re interested in and of what you’re doing by reading your e-mail.
• Personalized Homepage:
  They know what gadgets you include in your personalized homepage. This also gives them a pointer on what you are interested in. Are you a software developer, politically interested, interested in finances, are you a democrat or a conservative? They may find that out.
• Google Reader:
  They know: what feeds you like, how regularly you read the feeds, what feeds you read most, how much time you spend reading newsfeeds. And they make no secret of it: Check out this article from their blog.
• Google Talk:
  That in conjunction with Gmail is their greatest source for social information. They know who you’re friends with! They also know how much time you spend in front of your computer.
• Google Groups and Blogger:
  They know what topics you’re interested in in terms of newsgroup discussions or blog comments (if the blog you comment on is hosted by Blogger).

Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not a fanatic Google hater. As a matter of fact I use some of the mentioned products myself (including Gmail which is probably the worst in terms of privacy) however I think it’s important for people to be aware of what can be done with their data. And yes, I’m aware of the irony that this blog is powered by Blogger.

As news about the new Nintento Wii and especially the Wii remote resound through the land I decided it is time to put together a roundup of fancy input devices available or in development.

The first one to mention would be of course the Ninento Wii remote. It allows the user to interact with the console by means of phyisical gestures. So you can play baseball and literally be the batter or play golf and actually stroke the ball (or at least pretend to do so with the remote in your hand). This video explains the Wii remote’s concept. And here’s another very funny (and sexy) Wii comercial that disses the PS3 quite badly.
And somebody already hacked the Wii remote and is now able to control his Roomba. Check it out.

Furthermore, three researchers at Microsoft “have created an innovative handheld pointing device that works in mid-air” called Soap. There’s a video on how it works and how a Soap can be built here.

Researchers from Switzerland, Italy, Germany, France and the UK have developed a system that makes surfaces of any kind interactive with the help of acoustic sensors. For more information check out this article and the demonstration video.

The most intriguing concept however is a direct connection between computer and brain. There exists a very good wikipedia article about that topic. Of course ethical questions are to consider when those devices are not only used for treating disabilities but to enhance human function. Tough but very interesting topic.

“What’s that?” you might ask. Well I did not know either a few days ago. Basically it’s a method to produce fusion.
And what exactly is fusion anyway? Well it’s the oposite of fission: “Nuclear fusion is the process by which multiple nuclei join together to form a heavier nucleus.” And why is this so interesting? “It is accompanied by the release or absorption of energy depending on the masses of the nuclei involved.” (from Wikipedia: Nuclear Fusion) That’s why! (more…)

Slashdot recently had an item about Intel’s release of schematics for its 4004 microprocessor. From the article:

“Intel is celebrating the 35th anniversary of the Intel 4004, their very first microprocessor, by releasing the chip’s schematics, maskworks, and users manual. This historic revelation was championed by Tim McNerney, who designed the Intel Museum’s newest interactive exhibit. Opening on November 15th, the exhibit will feature a fully functional, 130x scale replica of the 4004 microprocessor running the very first software written for the 4004.”

(more…)

Do you know Google Tech Talks?

Google Tech Talks are talks held by various people at the Google site for the Google staff. Various people like professors, postgraduates, researchers, developers and even buddhists.
And what do those Googlers do? Friendly as they are they tape the whole thing and load the videos up to their video service. I recently watched a few of those TechTalks and was very impressed as the talks are sophisticated, entertaining and interesting at the same time. Just like a good university lecture should be. (more…)

Slashdot recently had an item about “Space On a Shoestring” reporting about three engineering students at Cambridge University who have planned to put a rocket into space for only Ã?â??Ã?£1000. They have sent their first space ship already to an altitude of 32km with the help of a helium balloon.Althoughh people argue, that that’s exactly what helium balloons are for (so whats special about it?), I think what they did is pretty cool. Not only because they have brought back those beautiful pictures but also because I’m sure they have learned quite a lot while preparing and realizing their mission.
What’s interesting is that in connection with this project, people are mentioning a lot other similar projects. I was quite impressed by all of them:

• The “High Altitude Glider Project” launched 5 times from 2001 to 2003. And they are planning to do it again: A Canadian Boffin – It’s not quite flying, closer to falling with style.
• The Stabilo Project, a professional European science project to create a “suborbital manned system”. They are using a solar balloon to overcome the first 22.000m. Then they launch the “hydrogen peroxide (85%) monopropellant rocket engine” to travel the rest of the way.
• Another project is the STRAPLEX project. It’s a program by the University of Porto that “offers students the possibility to send experiments for educational purposes into the stratosphere using balloons filled with Helium”.

Further information on the topic of high altitude balloons is provided here (Designing a High Altitude Balloon) and here (AMSAT & High Altitude Balloons), as Cherita Chen mentioned on slashdot.
And on the topic of “layers of atmosphere”, check out this wikipedia article. And there you can also read something about the difference between sub-orbital and orbital spaceflights.