Five questions with: Immersion’s haptic evangelist Bob Heubel Bob Heubel is a haptic technology evangelist with Immersion Corporation. He specializes in helping game developers implement feedback effects that players can literally feel, adding touch to the sights and sounds of gaming on smartphones and tablets. Heubel put his mobile device down just long enough to answer Five Questions. 1. The current trend of classic games like Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto III and Max Payne being brought back for new generations to play on their mobile devices very exciting. 2. Bringing a console-like gaming feel to mobile games using Haptic feedback. 3. A lot of the mobile titles from Handy Games–very addictive – and I just finished up Max Payne 3 and working through zombies in Dead Island. 4. The Immersion Haptic SDK that extends the vibration method for Android. 5. I can’t. Bob Heubel, developer evangelist with Immersion Corporation, will be speaking atthe NY Games Conference on September 5 (a Digital Media Wire event).
How To Get People To Like You: 7 Ways From An FBI Behavior Expert Before we commence with the festivities, I wanted to thank everyone for helping my first book become a Wall Street Journal bestseller. To check it out, click here. Meeting new people can be awkward. What should you say? How can you make a good impression? How do you keep a conversation going? Research shows relationships are vital to happiness and networking is the key to getting jobs and building a fulfilling career. But what’s the best way to build rapport and create trust? Robin Dreeke can. Robin was head of the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Program and has studied interpersonal relations for over 27 years. Robin is the author of the excellent book, It’s Not All About “Me”: The Top Ten Techniques for Building Quick Rapport with Anyone. I gave him a call to get some answers. You’re going to learn: And a lot more. 1) The Most Important Thing To Do With Anyone You Meet Robin’s #1 piece of advice: “Seek someone else’s thoughts and opinions without judging them.” Ask questions. Here’s Robin: Sum Up
Revel Touch lands $10m for mobile e-commerce technology Los Altos, Calif. – Revel Touch, a Los Altos-based developer of mobile e-commerce technology, said on Tuesday it has landed $10 million in its first round of funding, co-led by Foundation Capital and Lightspeed Venture Partners. The company said it will use the proceeds to build out its “merchandising cloud” platform, designed to create touch-optimized shopping experiences for tablets and smartphones. “Retailers and brands are under tremendous pressure to optimize the shopping experience for new channels like tablet and phone,” said Mar Hershenson, the company’s founder and CEO. Revel Touch also recently made several key hires, including former Baynote executive Mark Tsimelzon as vice president of engineering, former Kohlberg Ventures partner and AOL veteran Bill Youstra as senior vice president of marketing and business development, and retail veteran Trudi Michael as vice president of account services. This article was also published in Bay Area Tech Wire. Related links:
What Sleep Deprivation Does to Your Brain, in One Stunning Infographic The common cold may be pretty far down the disease totem pole, but that doesn't make it any more tolerable. Despite all the brilliant advances in modern medicine, nothing makes a worthless, incurably sniffly mess like a good, old-fashioned cold virus. But a team from McMaster University in Ontario thinks it has the key to saving you some sick days. The study, published in the science journal Nature Immunology, identified a protein usually involved in metabolism that helps your immune system detect viruses in your body. But knowing the mechanism to track down viruses is much bigger than alleviating common colds and herpes. "This identifies a critical component of the machinery that immune cells use to detect viruses," Brian Lichty, a professor of pathology and molecular medicine at McMaster University, told Mic in a phone call on Monday. In other words: Understanding this part of the immune system means knowing how to start vaccinating against viruses — and even cancer.
Streaming tv service ivi ruled a threat to the industry; appeals court unanimously upholds injunction Streaming television service ivi suffered another setback this week when a federal appeals court has upheld a lower court’s temporary injunction against the controversial company. In its ruling, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit said that allowing ivi to resume service could “threaten to destabilize the entire industry.” (Read the ruling, below.) It also determined that ivi was not legally the same as a cable network, noting in particular that it “retransmits broadcast signals nationwide, rather than to specific local areas.” ABC, NBCUniversal, Univision, Fox Television, CBS and several other broadcasters and networks sued ivi in 2010, asserting that the startup was infringing their copyrights by live-streaming their programming without permission. In February 2011, the U.S. Related links: Ivi – New York Law Journal – Networks Prevail in Copyright Dispute Over Online Service Broadcasting & Cable – Injunction Against ivi Upheld wpix et al v ivi
How To Keep Everyone At Arm’s Length And Never Enjoy An Authentic Human Connection: An Essential Guide It can be hard living as a wholly insecure, broken person drowning under the pressures of an endless parade of perceived failures . . . and that’s why I’m here to help! If you're trying to avoid a balanced life filled with love and real connections with others, I'm here to let you know—you can realize this fantasy! You have agency! In the past few years, I’ve found other ways to live (just to keep things fresh—variety being the spice of life and all), but this blissfully tortured existence used to be mine and it seems like a waste to let two and a half decades of exacting expertise go down the tubes. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. - Eat everything in sight. - Run—but propel yourself only out of self-hatred. - Pair a six-pack with a painkiller! - Fumble around with a coworker—your impending awkward interactions in the wake of the hook-up will only give you more fodder and failures to fixate on. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15.
Research: video platform market worth $2.1B from media/entertainment By the end of this calendar year, revenues for video platforms distributing video on behalf of media and entertainment companies will reach $2.1 billion, and in 2017 will grow to over $4 billion. This forecast comes from ABI Research, which defines this sector as including cable and satellite distributors, TV Everywhere and Over-the-Top (OTT) video providers globally. ABI reports that Akamai remains the unquestionable leader among CDNs (content delivery networks), with about $475 million in 2011 revenue. Looking at content management systems (CMSs), ABI found the leader is KIT Digital. Although the company had a rough start to 2012, a period the researchers described as “growing pains,” KIT Digital’s nearly $175 million video delivery revenue from media and entertainment companies in 2011 puts it ahead of competitors. Brightcove is the largest online video platform (OVP), with $64 million in 2011 media and entertainment revenues. Related links: ABI Research – media summary
Mindfully Managing Emotions | Susie Wolbe Our emotions are always with us. Reacting to our thoughts, our encounters and everything around us, often our emotions seem to have a life of their own. When confronted with something we find unpleasant or unkind, we may politely smile, rant and rave, scream and cry or simply walk away. As Zig Ziglar once said, "It's not what happens to you that matters. It's how you respond to what happens to you that makes a difference." In order for you to respond, rather than give a knee-jerk reaction, try some of these strategies: Look for three good things each day. Now, it's your turn. It's just waiting for you.
Media: Exponential growthMedia The Middle East's entertainment and media industry is set to grow by more than 10% and emerge as the sixth fastest growing market over the next five years, according to management consultancy PriceWaterhouse Coopers (PWC). Overall, the global entertainment and media industry region is expected to grow at 5.7% annually for the next five years to reach USD2.1-trillion. "Global spending on entertainment and media (E&M) rose 4.9 percent in 2011 - a little faster than the 4.5 percent increase in 2010, but still below gains in previous growth years," notes PWC. "This reflected a hoped-for pickup in economic momentum that did not materialize consistently around the globe, and we expect E&M growth to continue to lag nominal GDP growth, principally because of the ongoing shift from higher-priced physical distribution to lower-priced digital distribution." The growth will exceed the Middle East North Africa's economic growth, highlighting the sector's prospects. MENA ICT Indicators
Mindfulness Exercises - Mindfulness Techniques That Work These easy mindfulness exercises are simple enough for anyone to try, and yet they are an extraordinarily powerful method for developing self awareness. Mindfulness is awareness of the present moment. It’s living here and now. Through mindfulness, you are freed from becoming entangled in thoughts of your past, and you are freed from worrying about the future. In the here and now, everything just is...and there is great peace in that. But how to stay in touch with this moment, especially when your mind keeps running away from you like it so often does? These mindfulness techniques are an important part of learning how to practice mindfulness. Exercise 1: One Minute of Mindfulness This is an easy mindfulness exercise, and one that you can do anytime throughout the day. This mindfulness exercise is far more powerful than most people give it credit for. Keep in mind that this mindfulness exercise is not a contest or a personal challenge. Exercise 2: Conscious Observation
Breaking news, literally: Reuters hacked third time this MONTH High performance access to file storage Reuters websites were hacked for third time in a fortnight when hackers posted a bogus article falsely claiming that Saudi Arabia's foreign minister Saud al-Faisal was dead. The planting of the false report follows two similar attacks earlier this month. First, a bogus piece stating that the Syrian rebels were retreating appeared on a blog run by the news agency. Then, just days later, Reuters' Twitter feed was hijacked to post pro-Syrian government messages. Reuters acknowledged the latest breach in a statement that provides few clues about who carried out the latest breach, or how the hack was pulled off. "Reuters.com was a target of a hack on Tuesday. The news agency uses the WordPress platform for blogging.
What It's Like To Live With Borderline Personality Disorder I was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder at the age of 14. Relationships feel impossible, my brain never stops running and my stress is magnified. I find it very difficult to distinguish who I actually am and who my mental illness wants me to be. For the first time in my life, I’m sharing my story of borderline personality disorder with the public. I want to relate to those who suffer with me, educate those who misjudge me and help those who want to love me. What is Borderline Personality Disorder? While the name is a bit misleading (and most experts generally agree), BPD is “a pervasive pattern of instability of interpersonal relationships, self-image and affects and marked impulsivity beginning in early adulthood and presenting in a variety of contexts as indicated by five or more of the following:” 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Long story short, it’s very hard for those with BPD to have successful and healthy relationships and stable confidence levels. Relationships Survival Plan