As readers may observe, the publication frequency of the Viodi View newsletter has slowed a bit in the last several months from once every two to once every three weeks. The slowing isn’t for lack of content, as there are literally dozens of interviews from shows like CES that are sitting on the hard-drive or in other places. Attendees of this week’s Minnesota Telecom’s Annual Conference and Convention will get a sneak peek of some of this content on channel 65 of the Minneapolis Hyatt Regency. And for examples of Viodi-produced content that is on other sites, scroll down to the next two headlines.
Virtualization = Energy Reduction
Agility, time-to-market, lower-cost hardware and operations efficiency are often some of the reasons cited for why carriers are moving towards software defined networks. Cox’s Jeff Finklestein suggests power efficiency is another reason for moving to a software approach in an interview filmed at the Calix User Group. This makes sense as the cable industry been focusing on energy use reduction in all parts of its network; from the headend to the outside plant to within the home.
View and Read Here (Calix Web Site)
Turning a Negative Into a Positive
An impromptu conversation with SubscriberWise’s David Howe and MCTV’s Bob Gessner turned into a mini-panel of sorts on the topic of using customer credit data for both risk management, as well as for marketing. After the conversation, we were able to add a recorded conversation with a real customer who had been rewarded for her good credit. Held directly after the NCTC WEC 2017 conference last month, we also discussed Howe’s advocacy for a simple fix to help prevent child identity theft.
https://youtu.be/vALtVPCs6j0?rel=0
View the Press Release Here (SubscriberWise)
Self Driving versus Driverless – A Mobility Update with Alain Kornhauser
Driverless is like an elevator, explains Princeton Professor, Dr. Alain Kornhauser. The difference between driverless and self-driving is that self-driving allows human involvement in the operation of the car (e.g. it has a steering wheel). His explanation simplifies the multiple levels of autonomous operation, as defined by SAE into a binary choice of driving versus self-driving.
A New Way of Powering IoT Devices – Wood
Harvesting forests may soon yield wood that allows harvesting of energy, thanks to researchers from the University of Wisconsin at Madison and with help from the USDA. Speaking at the 2016 ID-TechEX conference, Chunhua Yao, co-founder of EWPanel and Xudong Wong, Associate Professor at UW-Madison explain that an electrode is embedded into the wood fiber. The wood fiber can then be integrated into mats, in flooring products and, potentially, even clothing.
Some Tweets and Short Thoughts
- The game of chicken between people and driverless cars – who will win (PC Mag)?
- This research paper from Microsoft (PDF) indicates this TV white space approach could be an alternative to other LPWAN technologies.
- Combination compost and raised garden bed via a “keyhole” approach and pizza boxes as seen in this picture promises 70% less water use, while feeding the plants with rich nutrients.
The Korner – IoG – Internet of Gardens or Data Science for the Micro Farm
Now is the time of the year to prepare one’s garden so that when summers comes around it will be in full bloom. Many of us amateurs could use the advice of a seasoned gardener. If Smart Yields has its way, many people may turn to a broadband-connected artificial intelligence powered algorithm as their trusted gardening adviser.
“It really comes down to recipes,” said Vince Kimura, co-founder and CEO of Smart Yields. He was referring to the idea that the needs of a crop are different and are location dependent. The goal of Smart Yields is to help farmers understand what they should plant and how to take care of it to most efficiently maximize yield, while reducing externalities (e.g. over fertilizing). Their target is what he calls “Yardeners” or lifestyle farmers, which are literally people with a backyard garden.
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