Ideatrotter

Solar-Powered Vessel Completed Its Journey Around The World...

Sat, 19 May 2012 05:08:10 -0400

Solar-Powered Vessel Completed Its Journey Around The World

After 584 days of traveling around the world, the solar-powered vessel Turanor PlanetSolar finally docked in Monaco. The vessel along with its 5-member crew is the first ship to travel using zero fuel. Instead, it relied on solar energy for power. This solar-powered vessel was first conceptualized by Rapheal Domian in 2004. After 2 years of design and development, the vessel was created with a solar photovoltaic surface area of more than 530 square meters and a capacity of 93.5 kilowatts.

Also covered in the video is Jersey winning an award for top 10 destinations with the most installed solar panels and San Diego Gas Electric recognizing 13 masters of energy conservation, also called energy champions.

Changing Africa | Tony Blair Former British Prime Minister Tony...

Sat, 19 May 2012 05:03:31 -0400

Changing Africa | Tony Blair

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair told a Stanford audience that much-needed economic development in Sub-Saharan Africa cannot go forward without improvements in governance. Blair is now the founder and patron of the African Governance Initiative, which works in Liberia, Guinea, Rwanda and Sierra Leone.

Future of Facebook Mobile | David Morin David Morin, chief...

Sat, 19 May 2012 05:00:00 -0400

Future of Facebook Mobile | David Morin

David Morin, chief executive officer of Path and a former Facebook Inc. employee, talks about the largest social-networking company’s culture and opportunities in mobile applications.

Verizon Shows Off Its Hurricane Force Verizon showcases how it...

Fri, 18 May 2012 04:27:16 -0400

Verizon Shows Off Its Hurricane Force

Verizon showcases how it uses mobile cell sites to restore wireless services after hurricanes and other disasters.

Azumio turns your phone into a biofeedback device Whether it is...

Fri, 18 May 2012 04:23:58 -0400

Azumio turns your phone into a biofeedback device

Whether it is analyzing your heart rate, controlling stress, or tracking your sleep patterns, Silicon Valley-based Azumio is using smartphone technology to give users a better and more accurate picture of your health. In this video, SmartPlanet gets a demo from Azumio’s Jen Grenz on how the entire process.

Making Energy Matter | Ben Foster Ben Foster manages the...

Fri, 18 May 2012 04:20:03 -0400

Making Energy Matter | Ben Foster

Ben Foster manages the creation, design, and delivery of Opower’s products, ensuring the company continues to build the industry’s leading suite of energy information services. He is responsible for the company’s products from a variety of perspectives, including features, functionality, user experience, and roadmap. Prior to Opower, Ben was VP of Product Management for Adchemy, a leader in digital advertising technology. While there, he was responsible for the company’s entire product suite supporting lead generation and Software as a Service (SaaS) offerings.

Before joining Adchemy, Ben led dozens of consumer-oriented product management efforts spanning the disciplines of marketing, merchandising, search, structured data, and technology integration at companies such as eBay, Webvan, ThoughtWorks, and Barra. He maintains a blog about best practices in product management and design, PMRant. Ben holds a BA in Statistics from the University of California at Berkeley.

Why Business Schools Don’t Breed...

Fri, 18 May 2012 04:13:22 -0400

Why Business Schools Don’t Breed Entrepreneurs

Stanford’s Steve Blank explains the history of the MBA and the difference between business startups and large corporations.

The Valley's Newest VC: Justin Bieber

Thu, 17 May 2012 04:40:00 -0400

The Valley's Newest VC: Justin Bieber: Bieber has acquired everything: fame, fortune and networks....

Samwers clone Quora: Never!

Thu, 17 May 2012 04:29:00 -0400

Samwers clone Quora: Never!: Quora connects you to everything you want to know about; that is the...

This Concept Plane Gets Better Gas Mileage Than Your Car Synergy...

Thu, 17 May 2012 04:12:11 -0400

This Concept Plane Gets Better Gas Mileage Than Your Car

Synergy is an aircraft that aims to change the way ordinary families travel. The creators have already started working on the small plane, but they’ve put the project up on Kickstarter to gain more funding for this round of production.

The Renewable Energy Island Of Denmark | Samso Welcome to Samso,...

Wed, 16 May 2012 05:37:20 -0400

The Renewable Energy Island Of Denmark | Samso

Welcome to Samso, an island off the coast of Denmark. Here is an example of something so remarkable: a community pulling together, investing together, and succeeding at becoming completely energy independent.

In 1998 they had a bold plan to switch to renewable energy. The civic leaders hit the road and convinced 450 island residents to invest in wind power. The farmers liked the idea of making money on the power they could sell back to the grid, as there is plenty of wind on the island.

They formed a cooperative and put up 2 windmills. Private investors put up another 5. These windmills produce more electricity than the island consumed, and they recouped their investment completely within a few years.

Meet an electrician who installed his own wind turbine. He powers his whole house, an electric car and again, because of selling energy back to the grid; his $30,000 wind turbine will have paid for itself in just 5 years. He can look forward to a lifetime of no energy bills, and needs no gas for the car.

When the islanders decided to install 10 offshore windmills, they produced so much power that Samso was now completely carbon neutral.

“We would rather buy our energy from our neighbor or another investor on the island than we would pay (suppliers in) The Middle East or an oil company. We just like the money to stay on the island.” says a resident. This is fascinating example of clear thinking and cooperation.

Why Nikola Tesla Was The Greatest Geek That Ever Lived

Wed, 16 May 2012 05:30:00 -0400

Why Nikola Tesla Was The Greatest Geek That Ever Lived: When we think of geeks, we usually think of...

Data centers that save energy

Wed, 16 May 2012 05:08:36 -0400

Data centers that save energy: Google uses a very small portion of global electricity. In an...

Resisting Knowledge Centralization The internet has made things...

Tue, 15 May 2012 02:56:53 -0400

Resisting Knowledge Centralization

The internet has made things easier, faster, and within reach. The world has become flat and barriers to entry have reduced significantly. We are instantly sharing our likes, tastes, moods and interests. The process of discovery has become social and can be curated.

Now, we have to overcome centralization. Centralization can lead to price controls, censorship without due process, lack of reader privacy, and resistance to innovators.The podcast attached provides a concise yet crisp look into why we need to destroy oligopolies and how can we ensure universal access.

For a Future-Friendly Web | Mobilism 2012

Tue, 15 May 2012 02:44:00 -0400

The web isn’t what it was 10 years ago, and it wont be the same in the next 5 years. It is...

Six Degrees of Student Debt

Tue, 15 May 2012 02:29:41 -0400

Six Degrees of Student Debt: A generation crippled by payback terms; where education is secondary...

Could these cloud based applications help your business...

Mon, 14 May 2012 10:16:01 -0400

Could these cloud based applications help your business grow?

For small and medium-sized businesses, one of the main challenges is keeping operational costs down while ensuring efficiency and meeting best practice. Thankfully, the tools offered by developments in the field of cloud computing have given businesses of all sizes the ability to remain at the top of their game by allowing them to carry out tasks cheaply and easily on the move. The provided infographic highlights some of the best free and paid-for cloud-based applications available today.

Leveraging Relationships Between Bulge Bracket Banks &...

Mon, 14 May 2012 10:10:37 -0400

Leveraging Relationships Between Bulge Bracket Banks & Startups

The Wharton Entrepreneurs Workshop, developed jointly by Wharton | San Francisco and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, features Gary Johnson, Vice President at Credit Suisse, discussing the current and projected state of the U.S. public equity markets, the financial and business attributes of a startup that are essential for a successful IPO or acquisition, and investment areas that are attracting the most attention in the technology sector.

Johnson also outlines what startups can expect to gain by establishing early relationships with traditional investment banks and how those relationships evolve.

A preacher, 500 startups, and a dream to change it all

Mon, 14 May 2012 10:03:00 -0400

A preacher, 500 startups, and a dream to change it all: Dave McClure represents that egregious...

Facebook: Proponent of Growth On April 24th, Facebook featured...

Sun, 13 May 2012 12:40:33 -0400

Facebook: Proponent of Growth

On April 24th, Facebook featured Viddy and SocialCam in its Newsfeed. Since then, both apps have experienced a growth of approximately 10 million new users a week. Both video-sharing apps currently sit at around 40 million users each. This is one of many examples of how an app can catalyze itself.

Point in case: Be broadcasted on Facebook for accelerated growth.