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Researchers Testing Text-Based DRM System for Ebooks

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June 19, 2013

Researchers at Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute are working on a new ebook DRM system called SiDiM that would change individual words of a story in an effort to combat piracy. The system would swap out text to essentially create individualized copies of an ebook that could then be tracked by the original owner. A subsidiary of the German book publisher’s association, interested in possible alternatives to the traditional lock-down approach of DRM, has joined Fraunhofer in its testing. Continue reading Researchers Testing Text-Based DRM System for Ebooks

Free Messaging Apps Impact Facebook and Mobile Carriers

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March 29, 2013

A fast-growing variety of free messaging apps — including WhatsApp, WeChat, Line and KakaoTalk — are now commonly used by hundreds of millions of people around the world. The apps are causing concern for an array of tech companies since communication via free messaging does not benefit mobile carriers or phone makers financially. Use of the messaging apps can also reduce time spent on conversational channels such as social networks. Continue reading Free Messaging Apps Impact Facebook and Mobile Carriers

CEO Bans Email: Encourages Social Tools such as Facebook and Texting

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December 2, 2011
  • Is emailing a thing of the past? Thierry Breton, CEO of the French firm Atos (one of the largest IT companies in the world), believes email is a time-killer and plans to get rid of the practice within his company.
  • Breton’s 80,000 employees will be asked to make the transition from email to using social media tools, phone calls and face-to-face communication as alternatives.
  • “If people want to talk to me, call or send me a text message,” said Breton. “Emails cannot replace the spoken word.”
  • Breton himself has not used email at work for three years, claiming that it’s inefficient and a “burden to the workflow,” according to Engadget.
  • Forbes adds that Breton cites specific examples of how email wastes time: 1) “The ‘deluge’ of information that plagues organizations,” 2) “The need to review ‘useless’ emails and the time it takes to get focused again on important tasks,” 3) “The ‘pile’ of email that employees end up sorting through after hours and the associated drain on employees’ personal time.”
  • According to The Daily Mail, Breton quotes a recent study by business watchdog ORSE: “Reading useless messages is terrible for concentration, as it takes 64 seconds to get back on the ball after doing so. Poorly controlled, the e-mail can become a devastating tool.”

E-Books: Alton Brown Excited about the Future of Interactive Cookbooks

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October 3, 2011
  • Alton Brown, who has made a career of introducing cooking methods and food science through innovative filmic approaches, says his latest “Good Eats 3” will be his final traditional printed cookbook.
  • The television personality and author suggests his future projects will be “immersive, highly interactive blends of text, photos and video.”
  • Brown says he plans to use 40 cameras for his next project that capture the action from all angles, so users can pan around the footage and freeze the image if necessary (which he likens to effects made popular by “The Matrix” franchise).
  • “We’re trying to figure out how to reinvent information flow, to break out of recipes,” says Brown. “Cooking is a linear process, but that doesn’t mean the information has to be delivered in a linear way.”
  • He also envisions a time when kitchen tools will connect wirelessly to tablet computers for increased interactivity.

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