yEd - Java Graph Editor

yEd - Java Graph Editor:

yEd is a very powerful graph editor that is written entirely in the Java programming language. It can be used to quickly and effectively generate drawings and to apply automatic layouts to a range of different diagrams and networks.

yEd is available as a free download with unrestricted functionality!

yEd makes full use of the yFiles library. This is a Java class library enabling the viewing, editing, optimizing, drawing, and animating of a wide range of diagrams, networks, and other graph-like structures.

yEd has been built using 100% lightweight Swing components. This allows it to run on any platform where a suitable Runtime Environment is available.

Automatic Layout of Networks and Diagrams

The yFiles library offers the user many advantages, one of which is its ability to automatically draw networks and diagrams. This section demonstrates some of the many layout styles that are supported by yFiles.

If you have Java Web Start installed, simply click on one of the links to download and start the interactive demos.

If there is no Java installed on your computer, please follow the link under the image to download the most current JRE (Java Runtime Environment):

Hierarchical Layout Emphasizes the direction of the main flow in diagrams and networks and also identifies hierarchy levels and dependencies. Supports orthogonal drawings and grouped diagrams. Ideally suited for biochemical pathways, dependency analysis, workflow diagrams, business process modeling, or UML diagrams. » start interactive demo

Organic Layout Emphasizes data-inherent groupings and symmetries and provides insight into the interconnectedness of large and complex structures. Supports grouped diagrams. Ideally suited for semantic networks, biochemical reaction networks, or computer network structures. » start interactive demo

Orthogonal Layout Produces clear diagrams with orthogonal connections only, where connections are routed with minimal number of crossings and bends. Supports grouped diagrams and exclusive routing of connections. Ideally suited for database modeling, software engineering, or UML diagrams. » start interactive demo

Tree Layout Arranges tree-like structures optimally. Offers directed as well as radial styles and supports compact arrangements. Ideally suited for genealogies, directories, mind-mapping, or organization charts. » start interactive demo

Circular Layout Emphasizes ring and star topologies in networks. Groups objects according to the network's structure and arranges them on circles or using radial tree structures. Ideally suited for network management, web visualization, or social networks. » start interactive demo

Cabinet Magazine Online - A Timeline of Timelines

Cabinet Magazine Online - A Timeline of Timelines: "Issue 13 Spring 2004

A Timeline of Timelines Compiled by Sasha Archibald & Daniel Rosenberg

This is an expanded version of a timeline that appeared in Cabinet's 'Histories of the Future' issue. Daniel Rosenberg's introduction to the timeline can be found here. "

ASTC - Resource Center - Music of Nature

ASTC - Resource Center - Music of Nature

ExhibitsMusic of Nature

The musical sounds of birds and other animals give clues to the deep roots of human musicality. Photo by David Klein

A major traveling exhibition on the music of nature—and the nature of music—is scheduled to open in 2007 as a result of a collaboration among ASTC, the Science Museum of Minnesota, and the BioMusic Program of National Musical Arts, an interdisciplinary group of scientists and musicians. Planning was supportec by a grant from the National Science Foundation. We share here highlights of the planning process.

Biomusic—An Emerging Field of Scientific Research

Visitor Studies Related to Music and Sound

Other Related Exhibits and Programs

References

Designs of the time: A New Approach to Design

Designs of the time: A New Approach to Design: "Eighty percent of the environmental impact of today's products, services, and infrastructures is determined at the design stage. Design decisions shape the processes behind the products we use, the materials and energy required to make them, the ways we operate them, and what happens to them when we no longer need them."

A meta phor all seasons

We have a place, all of us, in a long story--a story we continue, but whose end we will not see. It is the story of a new world that became a friend and liberator of the old, a story of a slave-holding society that became a servant of freedom....

It is the American story--a story of flawed and fallible people, united across the generations by grand and enduring ideals.

...

Through much of the last century, America's faith in freedom and democracy was a rock in a raging sea. Now it is a seed upon the wind, taking root in many nations.

Our democratic faith is an ideal we carry but do not own, a trust we bear and pass along.

Inaugural Address

Carbon finance could mean millions for Kenya

Carbon finance could mean millions for Kenya
In recent months, carbon finance has been widely praised, including endorsements from the U.N., the World Bank, and even the United States. Policymakers and environmentalists alike find the idea attractive because it could help fight climate change at a low cost while improving living standards for some of the world's poorest people and preserving biodiversity and other ecosystem services.

Mongabay.com analysis of U.N. deforestation data suggests that an avoided deforestation initiative could be worth $4-36 million per year to Kenya, depending on how much deforestation it could "avoid" and the market price for carbon offsets.

Between 2000 and 2005 Kenya lost an average of 12,000 hectares of forest per year according to figures from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). How much carbon does this represent? At the low end, FAO estimates that each hectare of Kenyan forest stores an average of 76 metric tons of carbon in above-ground biomass (more exists in below-ground biomass, dead wood, vegetation litter, and soil) that would be otherwise released by deforestation and subsequent land conversion for agriculture or pasture. Other research suggests that net carbon released from deforestation of secondary and primary tropical forest, allowing for the carbon fixed by subsequent land use, is of the order of 100-200 metric tons per hectare. So deforestation in Kenya releases on the order of 76-150 metric tons of carbon for each hectare of cleared or converted for agriculture. As such, Kenya's annual deforestation rate of 12,000 hectares may produce 912,000-1,800,000 tons of carbon emissions per year.

see also
http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2005/1000176/index.html

Global warming: plants are not to blame - SciDev.Net

Global warming: plants are not to blame - SciDev.Net: "

Plants are not to blame for climate change, according to a statement issued this week (18 January) by the researchers who reported eight days ago that plants emit up to a third of the methane — a potent greenhouse gas — in the atmosphere.

Speaking to SciDev.Net, Keppler said he wanted to make three points clear to the public.

First, their findings do not mean that reforestation programmes should be condemned. Trees absorb carbon dioxide, the most important greenhouse gas, so planting them is still beneficial.

When the methane emitted by trees is taken into account, says Keppler, the benefits of planting trees to absorb atmospheric carbon dioxide diminish by just one to four per cent — a negligible effect.

Secondly, changes in the overall amount of methane emitted by plants — including changes that could worsen global warming — are likely to be caused by human activities such as deforestation.

Finally, they say that much more research is needed to discover how methane emissions from plants vary according to species, temperature, humidity, sunlight and other factors, as well as how these emissions might change as the environment does.

"

VIRGIN EARTH CHALLENGE

VIRGIN EARTH CHALLENGE

To encourage a viable technology which will result in the net removal of anthropogenic, atmospheric greenhouse gases each year for at least ten years without countervailing harmful effects. Today, Sir Richard Branson and Al Gore announced the setting up of a new Global science and technology prize – The Virgin Earth Challenge – in the belief that history has shown that prizes of this nature encourage technological advancements for the good of mankind. The Virgin Earth Challenge will award $25 million to the individual or group who are able to demonstrate a commercially viable design which will result in the net removal of anthropogenic, atmospheric greenhouse gases each year for at least ten years without countervailing harmful effects. This removal must have long term effects and contribute materially to the stability of the Earth’s climate.

Democrat & Chronicle: Local News

Golisano helps high school go high-tech

Students at Bishop Kearney to get laptops, new curriculum

Erica Bryant
Staff writer

(February 14, 2007) — Starting in September, every student at Bishop Kearney High will get a laptop and the school will get a high-tech upgrade designed to better prepare its graduates for work in the global economy.

Paychex Inc. founder Tom Golisano announced Tuesday that he planned to use his money and influence to make the traditionally Catholic institution the most technologically advanced high school in the United States.

In addition to the laptop computers, the campus will have a wireless network, and curriculum enhancements will incorporate practical life and business applications.

The school will also get a new name, Bishop Kearney High School / A Golisano Education Partner.

"The world has changed dramatically since I was in secondary school," said Golisano, who was greeted with a standing ovation at Tuesday's assembly of parents, students, teachers and alumni. "The cradle-to-grave security of large corporations is gone."

"Free La Foneras (Wireless Routers)

"Free La Foneras (Wireless Routers) From Fon
from O'Reilly Radar

By Brady Forrest

FON, the community WiFi-sharing startup, is giving away wireless routers to new members (Foneros). The routers are very small and portable -- perfect for travelers. Out of the box it supports broadcasting two SSIDs: a protected one for your home and a public one for your fellow Foneros.

Apple - Thoughts on Music

Apple - Thoughts on Music
or, how to do things with words.

Steve Job's essay is a modern masterpiece. Clear, well written, and well reasoned, and possibly the straw that will break the camel's back. The DRM camel, that is.

argparse

The argparse module: a Python command line parser

Web 2.0 ... The Machine is Us/ing Us

The Machine is Us/ing Us

Accordian couch

Very cool design....

| ARCchart | Blueprint : Is the Great UWB Wait over?

| ARCchart | Blueprint : Is the Great UWB Wait over?
Belkin’s cable-free four-port USB Hub enables PCs up to 30 feet away to access storage, printers, cameras and other stationary USB devices connected to the hub and comes with a USB-based UWB dongle for communication between the PC and the hub. The Belkin hub is priced at USD 200

UWB, with its primary vehicle wireless USB, can offer data rates up to a maximum of 480 Mbps over a distance of 30 m. UWB transmits information spread over a large width of radio spectrum (>500 MHz), generating radio energy at specific time instants.

(10 times more power efficient than Wi-Fi and 50 to 70 times more efficient than Bluetooth).

Domefest

Eluminati

Dome Theaters Exhibits & Installations Content & Research

Domeworks: Projection, Reception, Perception

How did we miss this?


Domeworks: Projection, Reception, Perception
Premiere of Schenectady Museum's Edison Media Project
October 3rd, 2006
Schenectady, NY

Domeworks' latest performance, "Projection, Reception, Perception", took place at the Schenectady Museum on October 3rd. Domeworks is a unique collaboration of visual and sounds artists performing in domed spaces.

Equally enthralling when viewed from both the inside and outside, the Domeworks geodesic hemisphere was lined with a lycra skin and lit up by a HAL-SX6. A number of media artists collaborated using live video processing, recorded videos, interactive visual language software, and an 8-channel surround sound system. Participating artists included Diana Slattery, Vonn New, Stephan Moore, and skfl (Jason Steven Murphy), Johnathan Lee Marcus, Scott Smallwood, Chris Harvey, and David McConville.

The event was sponsored in part by the Elumenati and was the premiere performance in the Schenectady Museum's new Edison Media Project series.

Red Planet Mars inflatable globe
36ft. Diameter Inflatable Planet Mars
with internal illumination
http://www.creatableinflatables.com/inflatable_globes.htm

Cubex portable planetarium

CUBEX Inflatable Dome The dome of the CUBEX is an inflatable dome measuring 4, 5, 6 or 7 meters in diameter. It is inflated by a three-speed fan that continuously blows air into its interior. To enter and exit, the highest blowing speed is used to compensate for air that is lost. Once the audience is inside, the fan’s speed is reduced to its lowest speed to maintain a quiet, continuous airflow that keeps the dome inflated and the interior comfortably ventilated. The dome fabric is a blackout type and has a fire retardant treatment that meets the NFPA-701 standard. A FR (fire retardancy) certificate is furnished with each dome. Its complete opacity ensures optimum darkness and thus the best sky possible, regardless of the lighting outside the dome. Entrance to the dome is quick, comfortable and safe. The two meter high entrance is easily opened and closed with a doble-sided, easy to grasp zipper. Both the exterior and interior colour of the dome shown above are silver grey, but the inner one could be white as well. A white colored inside surface is more reflective, but grey is much less susceptible to dirt. The white color works fine for optomechanical star projectors, like Cubex, but it is not convenient to be used with full video projectors. An inside grey color is good for full dome video projection and star projection as well, and this is the recommendable choice if these two types of projection are the anticipated uses for the dome. Since the dome does not have a floor, emergency evacuation is instantaneously and safely achieved by simply lifting the dome over the audience’s heads and to one side, exposing the interior in seconds. The dome is remarkably lightweight. At only 18 Kg. (39 lbs) for the 5 meters one, it is the lightest one available for its size. It can be transported by one person with a minimum of effort. Once folded, the dome fits neatly in the provided carry bag. Dome Colors: The exterior color of the dome is available in a Royal Blue color. View Cubex dome color swatch. Our company name and data are never visibly printed on our domes. Dome Meaurements: The figure on the right shows the 5 meters CUBEX dome measurements. The Cubex dome is made in four sizes: 4, 5, 6 and 7 meters. All them are equal in every aspect of their design and function.

Whisher

Use Whisher to treat anyone's Wi-Fi like it's your own

By Rafe Needleman – January 30, 2007, 4:10 AM PST

There's a new Wi-Fi sharing service launching at Demo 07: Whisher. This service competes with Fon, but has a very different architecture. (See News.com story.)

The Whisher client app.

(Credit: Whisher)

Fon asks its customers to install Fon-powered Wi-Fi access points on their broadband connections, and it makes them all into a global shared network. Whisher, by contrast, collects the access keys to the existing routers that its subscribers already use. In other words, to put your broadband connection on the Whisher network, you give the service your Wi-Fi access point's ID and security code (WEP or WPA key), and then Whisher holds that information in proxy for its other subscribers.

Subscribers use the Whisher software to connect to access points on the Whisher network. The actual passwords that Whisher transmits are not revealed to subscribers.

Clearly, it's a much simpler way to build a co-op network of access points, since it doesn't require dedicated hardware.

It is, however, a scary proposition from a security perspective. With Whisher, anyone who gains access to a Wi-Fi access point can put it on the network. Whisher founder Ferran Moreno said, "As long as you can connect, we assume you are the owner." But that's not the case: Once you give your network's Wi-Fi key to friends or employees, any of them could put your Wi-Fi on the Whisher network, and you might never know it--until you find strangers on your LAN and no bandwidth left for the people who own it.

Vuvox

Vuvox: Beautiful online app makes snazzy multimedia presentations

By Rafe Needleman – January 31, 2007, 3:28 PM PST

(Credit: CNET Networks)

Jaman

Jaman cuts out the middleman and lets independent North American filmmakers and South American and South Asian filmmakers get their cinematic works online. For a fee of $1.99 to rent and $4.99 to buy, people can then sift through and watch any of the 200-plus films in their stable. And, Jaman.com brags, the films are delivered via broadband with "better-than-DVD quality" to a Mac or PC.

Jaman's video player (playing 4:3 content)

(Credit: CNET Networks)

The social-network quality is the "smart window" to the right of the video window where filmmakers' commentary, along with community commentary, is posted. You can choose to skip fellow viewers' editorializing, or navigate right to scenes with comments by the bar on the bottom of the screen.o

Laser Gesture Recognition - The Code Project - Multimedia

Laser Gesture Recognition - The Code Project - Multimedia: "Laser Gesture Recognition
By Ashish Derhgawen.

A quick article on setting up a simple, real-time laser gesture recognition application and using it to control Windows Media Player"

The program searches for the brightest pixel in its field of view (which is a laser dot in our case) with luminance above a certain threshold value. Luminance of a pixel can be calculated using its RGB values with a simple formula:

Luminance = (299 * red + 587 * green + 114 * blue) / 1000

After it finds the pixel, it analyzes how much that point moved along the x and y axes. Based on these parameters, the program tries to recognize the movement. For example, if the laser dot's movement along the x-axis is much more than its movement along the y-axis, the program will determine that it was more or less a horizontal movement. Then, based on the initial and final position of the laser dot, it will determine if the movement was towards the left or towards the right. It uses a similar technique to detect upward, downward and diagonal movements.

iPhone (too much visual attenion required?)

“I think it’s a bit backwards and disappointing for Apple to introduce a product that requires MORE visual attention than most phones, and which has no tactile means of operation.” –I agree. At this early date, I think the phone may be the weakest part of the iPhone.

http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/01/11/the-ultimate-iphone-frequently-asked-questions/

Can't Touch This - Jeff Han - Touch Screen

Can't Touch This - Jeff Han - Touch Screen

Jeff Han, superstar (and new video)

USB 2.0 SVGA Adapter: $74.95

USB 2.0 SVGA Adapter: $74.95:


Part No. SW-4132
Mfg. Part No. UVA100
USB SVGA Adapter
click for a better view"

instructables : The Peaucellier's Cell - Draw a straight line with linkages: step 3: Making the Linkage

instructables : The Peaucellier's Cell - Draw a straight line with linkages

400 videos from MIT

400 videos from MIT
including 88 on Innovation/Invention, among them...

• iWoz: From Computer Geek to Culture Icon: How I Invented the Personal Computer, Co-Founded Apple, and Had Fun Doing It - Steve Wozniak
• On a Liberal Education for the 21st Century - Woodie C. Flowers
• The Art of Engineering - James Dyson
• Innovation Through Design Thinking - Timothy Brown
• From Space to Energy: Changing the World. For Good. - Peter H. Diamandis
• The Six Webs, 10 Years On - Bill Joy
• The 21st Century is about Engineering, Systems and Society - A. Richard Newton
• Open Networks and Open Society: The Relationship between Freedom, Law, and Technology - Hal Abelson, John Wilbanks
• Democratizing Innovation - Eric von Hippel
• Invention and Innovation: Emerging Technologies that Will Change the World
• The Inventor View - Kari Stefansson, Edward Jung
• National Innovation Initiative - G. Wayne Clough, Nicholas Donofrio
• Innovation at the Interface: Technological Fusion at MIT - Edward B. Roberts, Rodney A. Brooks
• The Innovation Economy: How Technology Is Transforming Existing Industries and Creating New Ones - Morning Keynote - Clayton Christensen
• Inventing Modern America: From the Microwave to the Mouse - Doug Engelbart, Brian Hubert

Information Visualization

Visual Literacy: An E-Learning Tutorial on Visualization for Communication, Engineering and Business

A very rich website including these

Knowledge Maps of Researchers and Methods in the Visualization Field

The last one in particular is a very powerful and accessible compendium of interesting visualizations. This may be THE best place to dive into the field of Information Visualization....

Software visualization and engineering

Visualization Studies

Periodic Table

Download PDF file
"Towards A Periodic Table of Visualization Methods for Management"

Bachelor of Innovation (TM)

Bachelor of Innovation (TM) University of Colorado

We see 4 major components of innovation, Technology, Entrepreneurship, Creative Communications and Globalization, all of which come together in the BI family. And of innovation needs creative people, like you, in the BI program.