E-cigarettes to fuel LBS business

US: Blu, the maker of electronic cigarettes that release a nicotine-laden vapour instead of smoke, has developed packs of e-cigarettes with sensors that will let users know when other e-smokers are nearby. The packs vibrate when a smoker nears a retail outlet that sells Blu cigarettes. One can consider it as the introduction of location-based service exclusively for smokers, as Jason Healy, the founder of Blu, said that later versions will be tethered to a smartphone through an app, allowing more options for real-time communication.


Packs of Blu e-cigarettes will vibrate and flash a blue light when they are within 50 feet of another pack.

The company is also considering to develop a system through which the packs will monitor how much people are smoking and report back to them — or to their doctors.

The new “smart packs,” which will go on sale next month for USD 80 for five e-cigarettes, are equipped with devices that emit and search for the radio signals of other packs. When they get within 50 feet of one another, the packs vibrate and flash a blue light.

The reusable packs, which serve as a charger for the cigarettes, can be set to exchange information about their owners, like contact information on social networking sites, that can be downloaded onto personal computers.

E-cigarettes have several obvious advantages to their traditional counterparts. They allow users to avoid bans on smoking in public places because they release only water vapour. Healy and other e-cigarette manufacturers also claim that they have practically no negative health effects — an assertion that draws scepticism in many quarters. But the devices are also, in their own way, gadgets.

Marketers think people want more devices to link to each other. More than 105 million adult Americans have at least two types of connected devices, and 37 million have five or more, according to Forrester Research.
Source: www.nytimes.com

Farming technology expensive but worth it

SALISBURY — As Jason Starnes planted soybeans through a field of old cornstalks last week, a computer warned him that his tractor was too far to the left.
“This is what happens when I steer,” Starnes said, laughing as he corrected.
The northern Rowan County farmer plants crops using GPS-guided technology that keeps him from missing or overlapping spots on the field. The GPS unit uses satellite signals to show his exact location, how far off he is from his designated path and how much of the field already has been covered.
With a simple mechanical device, the system even steers the tractor automatically. Starnes deactivates it to turn the tractor and navigate through difficult areas.
Systems like this cost thousands of dollars, but Rowan County farmers who use them say they’re worth it.
“We’ve noticed some pretty good savings, and it prevents a lot of human error,” he said. “The investment you make in the equipment pays for itself fairly quick.”
Jason Starnes owns Four S Farms in northern Rowan County with his wife, Robin, and his parents, Kim and Connie.
In addition to planting crops, they use GPS to help spray herbicide or pesticide, and a similar method is used to apply fertilizer exactly where and how it’s needed.
The Starneses pay Southern States Cooperative to sample the soil at various spots on the farm and create maps of the soil’s chemistry and content. The company then loads the data on a GPS-equipped spreader truck, which automatically changes the fertilizer’s content and application rate as it spreads.
The soil is given all the nutrients it needs to best grow the crops — and no more.
The farm’s “no-till” planting process sows seed through the remains of previous crops, disturbing the earth as little as possible. This minimizes soil erosion and harmful runoff, and it increases organic matter in the soil as well as beneficial insects and earthworms.

Not all local farmers see the need to keep up with the latest technology.
China Grove resident Frank Corriher tills the ground with a plow before planting crops using his own guidance at Corriher Farms. When he’s not at his job at Mid South Tractor Company, Corriher works on the farm with his sons, Shannon and Wesley, and other family members.
He said it doesn’t make financial sense to buy “fancy equipment” to tend his small amount of land.
“The modern ways are quicker,” Corriher said. Then, with a hint of pride in his voice, he added, “But the traditional way has less riding and more muscle work.”
Agriculture — including crops, livestock, poultry and dairy — is a $62 million industry in Rowan County.
With food prices rising this year, it’s possible that farmers could earn a little more. According to the Associated Press, corn traded at more than $7 a bushel in April — more than double last summer’s $3.50 — and many traders say it could pass the record $7.65 set in 2008.
But small family farms aren’t likely to double their money.
“Of course, it does help at the farm level when food prices go up,” said Joe Hampton, research operations manager at the Piedmont Research Station in Salisbury. He explained that prices often are tracked by monitoring the cost of 19 regularly purchased items. “Last week, the market basket index was $46, and it’s gone up 3 percent this year. But of that $46, about $7 went back to the farmer.”
The rest of the money may go to processing, transportation, marketing and other costs, Hampton said. Farmers also are spending an increasing amount on fuel, fertilizer and other supplies. Larger farms fare better because they often have more buying and selling power, and they can produce more than enough to cover those costs.
“Fertilizer prices are so high now that you can’t waste it,” said Kim Starnes, Jason’s father. “Twenty to 30 years ago, it was a lot cheaper, so you didn’t think much about it.”
New technology can save money by improving efficiency and productivity — in other words, doing more with less.

“We have tried to use less and less of our resources to produce food and fiber for the country,” said Hampton. “Thirty years ago, when I started working for the Department of Agriculture, it took about 25 gallons of diesel fuel to farm an acre of ground in Rowan County. Today, we can ... use 2.5 gallons of diesel fuel to farm an acre of land.”
From an acre of land that once produced 20 to 30 bushels of wheat, Hampton said, farmers now can reap 90 to 100 bushels.
“It’s a combination of better genetics, better management — where we plant in a more timely way than we did in the past — and managing the soil better,” he said.
Hampton said genetic engineering has helped breed more hardy and productive crops, bigger and tastier produce and larger and healthier animals.
The next new advancement in agriculture, he said, will likely be related to the nutrition and bioactivity of food.
“For example, I think it’s possible to breed squash with higher Vitamin A levels,” he said.
Hampton also praised new no-till technology as “monumental” for farming and for the environment.
The Starneses say they use no-till methods, along with measures to prevent erosion and runoff, because farmers are by nature environmentalists.
The pesticides they use are far removed from the harmful chemicals used decades ago, said Kim Starnes, and the herbicide they apply is used regularly in home gardens.
“We do protect the land, soil and water,” Kim Starnes said. “We realize that we need to for future generations.”
Source: http://www.salisburypost.com

Nokia to take big leap towards LBS?

After having launched its 3D mapping campaign through Ovi Maps at the Where 2.0 conference in Santa Clara, CA, Nokia may be looking at an even larger re-organization campaign to deliver value to users through location services an apps. Nokia will be bridging its mobile phone business together with Navteq, which it had acquired, and Microsoft’s Bing mapping services according to a leaked internal memo that Phonescoop was able to obtain.

The three foundational elements behind this change are being made to support the following: new social-location applications, services, and developer experiences that engage a large user-base to build a winning brand and ecosystem together with Microsoft; high-value location content enabling differentiated experiences; and high-value advertising network monetizing the ecosystem by providing local commerce services for brands and merchants.

The changes will go into effect on May 1st, according to the document, where Nokia will consolidate its mapping and location teams into a single business unit. The teams there will mostly fall under the mobile division, which highlights Nokia’s commitment to Ovi Maps for its smartphones–the company provides free turn-by-turn GPS guidance via Ovi Maps on all of its smartphones.

Further, Nokia and Navteq will not only be targeting Nokia devices and the Windows Phone platform, but will also “focus on horizontal services that target Nokia devices, and beyond Nokia devices, including the ongoing availability of Navteq data to all its B2B partners.”

Nokia has also made a strong commitment to near field communications, or NFC, technologies in the past and it’s unclear if location-based services and NFC technology will merge together at some point with Nokia’s new strategy on mapping and commerce. Rival Google, which provides mapping services through Google Maps and also provides voice-guided navigation through Google Maps with Navigation on Android devices, is also a big player in the NFC market. The company is rumored to be working on its own Groupon competitor and will be integrating check-ins via NFC badges.
Source: http://www.gottabemobile.com

Russia invites Sweden to join GLONASS

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in Stockholm

Russia and Sweden agreed on Wednesday to improve cooperation in the space industry, including their intention to launch Swedish satellites using Russian carrier rockets.
The two countries signed a relevant declaration during Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's visit to Stockholm.
The sides also agreed to jointly use ground facilities to gather information for operating their own orbital objects and those of third countries.
Sweden and Russia will also cooperate within a Russian space research project to monitor the Earth's polar regions. The project envisions using a new satellite cluster, called Arktika, to provide environmental monitoring data for accurate weather forecasts and to aid national socio-economic development.
The system is scheduled to begin operating in 2015. The cost of the project is estimated at 30 billion rubles ($1.23 billion).
Putin also invited Sweden to increase its cooperation with Russia on its Glonass satellite navigation system, Russia's answer to the U.S. Global Positioning System, or GPS, which is designed for both military and civilian uses.
Russia currently has 22 fully-operational Glonass satellites in orbit. The complete Glonass grouping must have 24 operational and 2-3 reserve satellites for the Glonass network to operate with global coverage. Putin said the number of Glonass satellites in orbit would be increased by 29 or 30 in the near future.
Russia will also study the Swedish experience in the creation of its SWEPOS satellite navigation system, which uses the Glonass signal.
Sweden will share with Russia its experience in the creation of a common emergency call center. Russia is currently introducing its own emergency call service similar to the United States' 911 telephone line.
Russia and Sweden have also cooperated in the introduction of broadband internet and 3G and 4G mobile telecommunications in Russia.
STOCKHOLM, April 27 (RIA Novosti)

Sugarcane helps cool climate: Research

Sugarcane is not only a major source for producing a biofuel alternative to gasoline, it also helps in cooling the climate if cultivated in a massive scale, finds a new study.

Scientists from the Carnegie Institution's Department of Global Ecology found the important agro-industrial plants help lower the temperature of the surrounding air by reflecting sunlight back into space and "exhaling" cooler water. The research, published online in the journal Nature Climate Change, quantifies the direct effects on the climate from sugarcane expansion in areas of existing crop and pastureland of the Cerrado region in Brazil.

For their study, the researchers used data from hundreds of satellite images over 1.9 million sq km. They measured temperature, reflectivity (also called albedo), and evapotranspiration — the water loss from the soil and from plants as they exhale water vapour.

Scott Loarie, who led the research , said: "We found that shifting from natural vegetation to crops or pasture results in local warming because the plants give off less beneficial water. But sugarcane is more reflective and gives off more water — much like the natural vegetation."
Source: Geospatial World

One Pinnacle of Human Achievement to Another

  acquired April 13, 1981

On April 12, 1961, cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human to reach Earth orbit. Launching from Baikonur Cosmodrome on Vostok-1, he flew for 108 minutes and nearly circled the planet before landing in Kazakhstan. From a porthole at his feet, he could view our blue planet as a sphere. He declared: “It is indescribably beautiful.”
On April 12, 1981, astronauts John Young and Robert Crippen rode the space shuttle Columbia into the sky, launching from Cape Canaveral in the world's first reusable space vehicle. It was the first time in history that a new spacecraft was launched on its maiden voyage with a crew aboard. Thirty years and 513 million miles later, the NASA space shuttle fleet—Discovery, Endeavour, Atlantis, together with Columbia and Challenger (both lost)—has carried 350 people into orbit on 133 flights.
In honor of this double anniversary, Earth Observatory offers this astronaut photograph of part of the region where many historians say the march of civilization began: the “Fertile Crescent” of the Middle East. Known to many as “the cradle of civilization,” the stretch of land astride the Tigris and Euphrates rivers nurtured several of the earliest known cities and empires.
Astronauts on flight STS-1 captured this view of Iran, Iraq, and Kuwait through a viewport on the space shuttle on April 13, 1981. The photo was taken with a handheld camera on the 15th orbit around Earth, during a flight that lasted 54 hours.
The space shuttle has “helped us improve communications on Earth and understand our home planet better,” said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden on April 12, 2011. “It's set scientific satellites like Magellan and Ulysses speeding on their missions into the solar system, and launched Hubble and Chandra to explore the universe. It's enabled construction of the International Space Station, our foothold for human exploration, which is leading to breakthroughs in human health and microgravity research.”
It all started fifty years ago this day. The United Nations has declared April 12 to be the International Day of Human Space Flight.
Source: NASA Earth Observatory

Intergraph Advances Smart Grid Technology

Intergraph^® continues to advance its smart grid solutions to enable utilities to better manage their complex electrical distribution infrastructure and field crews, and take advantage of real-time operations data within a consolidated command-and-control environment. The newest solution designed for the smart grid operations center now supports the full functionality of an advanced distribution management system (ADMS) by providing integrated power systems analysis within one environment. This consolidated approach enables utilities to take full advantage of their investments in advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) for operations to improve operational decision-making and increase grid reliability, efficiency and security. In today’s market, utilities are looking for a “best of breed” outage management system (OMS) with value-added capabilities. To maximize resources, cut operational costs, meet industry performance metrics, maintain reliable customer service and improve safety and security, utilities are now seeking solutions that integrate intelligent grid technology into the OMS environment to provide more comprehensive distribution operation functionality.
InService 8.3, the newest version of Intergraph’s smart grid technology, integrates OMS, mobile workforce management, security, geospatial technology, SCADA and power systems analysis tools into a single user interface for optimal operating efficiency and reliability. The latest version delivers several enhancements that improve the integration and display of SCADA data and integrated power system analytics, to meet the requirements of the most advanced utilities by organizing vast amounts of data into understandable visual representations.
Intergraph customers can now leverage the full operational benefits of their smart meter investments by integrating their AMI systems with OMS. Through a new, optional component that allows operators to query AMI-enabled meters for outages and receive responses from the meters indicating whether they have power, utilities can detect and verify outages without customer intervention, leading to reduced restoration time, improved customer service, financial savings and a reduction in customer average interruption duration index (CAIDI) and system average interruption duration index (SAIDI). By integrating its AMI system with Intergraph OMS, a major northeast utility in the U.S. reported a reduction of CAIDI by nearly four minutes and an annual savings of more than $400,000 as a result of more rapid and accurate outage detection and validation.
“Operating tomorrow’s distribution network requires tightly integrated systems that work together seamlessly for a fast, coordinated response to potential issues,” said Tony DiMarco, executive director of Global Utilities & Communications with Intergraph. “With an increasing number of smart devices and technologies being added to electric grids, Intergraph is fulfilling the need to capture this vast amount of additional operations data and provide information in a consolidated, easily understood format for faster, more informed decision-making. Through enhanced integration for power systems analysis and AMI, Intergraph now supports a comprehensive ADMS, providing real-time, end-to-end grid management and improving situational awareness.”
The latest version of Intergraph smart grid technology can be easily integrated with a multitude of SCADA and AMI platforms to streamline operations and reduce costs. Further information is available at: http://www.intergraph.com/utilities/oms.aspx.
About Intergraph

Intergraph is the leading global provider of engineering and geospatial software that enables customers to visualize complex data. Businesses and governments in more than 60 countries rely on Intergraph’s industry-specific software to organize vast amounts of data to make processes and infrastructure better, safer and smarter. The company’s software and services empower customers to build and operate more efficient plants and ships, create intelligent maps, and protect critical infrastructure and millions of people around the world.
Intergraph operates through two divisions: Process, Power & Marine (PP&M) and Security, Government & Infrastructure (SG&I). Intergraph PP&M provides enterprise engineering software for the design, construction, operation and data management of plants, ships and offshore facilities. Intergraph SG&I provides geospatially powered solutions to the public safety and security, defense and intelligence, government, transportation, photogrammetry, and utilities and communications industries. Intergraph Government Solutions (IGS) is an independent subsidiary for SG&I’s U.S. federal and classified business.