Stories I Found Of Interest (weekly)

• New WiFi protocol boosts congested wireless network throughput by 700% | ExtremeTech

  • Engineers at NC State University (NCSU) have discovered a way of boosting the throughput of busy WiFi networks by up to 700%. Perhaps most importantly, the breakthrough is purely software-based, meaning it could be rolled out to existing WiFi networks relatively easily — instantly improving the throughput and latency of the network
  • To solve this problem, NC State University has devised a scheme called WiFox. In essence, WiFox is some software that runs on a WiFi access point (i.e. it’s part of the firmware) and keeps track of the congestion level. If WiFox detects a backlog of data due to congestion, it kicks in and enables high-priority mode. In this mode, the access point gains complete control of the wireless network channel, allowing it to clear its backlog of data. Then, with the backlog clear, the network returns to normal.

• A Venture Capitalist Weighs on the Next Phase of Tech Innovation - Forbes

  • We see significant changes in a number of enterprise technologies such as cloud infrastructure, mobile, storage, software-defined networking and security.

• Republicans lost the culture war - CNN.com

  • According to a Pew Research poll taken last year, 49% of Americans age 18-29 have a positive view of socialism while just 46% have a positive view of capitalism. Such a view has roots.

• Pepsi Special Sold In Japan Claims To Block Fat « CBS Pittsburgh

  • It contains an additive called Dextrin, a fat-blocking fiber that is supposed to keep the body from absorbing fat and lower cholesterol levels. That’s a claim that the Food & Drug Administration has not yet bought.

     

    But if it does, as a marketing tool, a Pepsi drink that blocks fat could be a winner

  • “If you read some of the product claims, there’s one thing I saw that says you’ll be able to eat a piece of chocolate cake and it won’t be absorbed,
  • But a Pepsi ad in Japan suggests you can eat both pizza and hamburger – as long as you drink Pepsi Special.

• visualant_10k-15341.htm

  • Visualant’s SPM technology resides in the general marketplace for spectroscopy (measurement of light according to its spectrum) and spectrometry (the measurement of the chemical or atomic components as a function of light reflected or absorbed by them).  These analytic tools are typically fragile and expensive often costing tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars.

• Welcome to The Future: BlueBubbleLab and The Market Research of Tomorrow - Forbes

  • One of BluebubbleLab’ key product is a software that can read people’s face and describe their emotions.
  • Bluebubblelab allows companies to measure consumer reaction by analyzing their facial expressions while they test the product at their own homes or anywhere else.
  • According to Ben Van Dongen,CEO, “Our software allows us to understand people not by listening to what they tell us. It captures the reptile brain information by looking at 128 micro muscles in anyone’s face which are managed by their cortex. Our software tell us if the person likes something or not and if he is happy or sad or angry. We not only analyze the muscles but also measure heart rate, emotions, eye tracking, breathing, behavior, facial recognition, attention time, head pose, and more

• Online viewers start leaving if video doesn’t play in 2 seconds, says study — Tech News and Analysis

  • A new study reports that faster internet connections have made viewers more impatient, and that people begin abandoning videos if they don’t load within two seconds
  • the “four second rule” — the amount of time people will wait for a webpage to download.

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.