What if you made it more comfortable to sleep at a bus stop?

A batch of advice for visiting Disneyland with two young teens

I lowered my NOx emissions by 234 PPM

Bank of Montreal (BMO), CaixaBank, Commerzbank and Erste Group have joined an initiative launched by UBS and IBM in 2016 to build a new global trade platform based on blockchain technology. This new platform, called Batavia, is built to be openly accessed by organisations of all sizes anywhere in the world, and can support trade finance for transactions across all modes of trade, whether goods are being transported by air, land or sea.

SIBOS: IBM today announced a new blockchain banking solution that will help financial institutions address the processes of universal cross-border payments, reducing the settlement time and lowering the cost of completing global payments for businesses and consumers. Using IBM Blockchain, and in collaboration with technology partners Stellar.org and KlickEx Group, the solution is intended to improve the speed in which banks both clear and settle payment transactions on a single network in near real time.

IBM today announced it is teaming up with Toronto-based FinTech company Dream Payments to bring new revenue generating mobile payment offerings to financial institutions and merchants in the United States via the IBM Cloud.

IBM today announced a new IBM Cloud Private software platform to help companies unlock billions of dollars in technology investment in core data and applications and extend cloud-native tools across public and private clouds.

[Image: An example of gravitational lens effects, via Wikipedia.] Over at WIRED, Daniel Oberhaus, author of the recent book Extraterrestrial Languages, takes a look at some proposals from NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concept (NIAC) program. “Among this year’s NIAC grants,” Oberhaus writes, “are proposals to turn a lunar crater into a giant radio dish, to develop … Continue reading "Gravitational Lensing, Interstellar Cinematography, and the Future of Magical Warfare in Space"

[Image: The “so-called Tower of Babel,” photographed in 1932; courtesy Library of Congress.] I posted these on social media the other day, but I thought I’d include them here simply because of how much I love the casually jaw-dropping caption used for these over at the Library of Congress. This eerie pile of bricks looming … Continue reading "The “So-called Tower of Babel”"

IBM today announced a new agreement with Walgreens, one of the country’s largest drugstore chains, to deploy IBM retail analytics at more than 8,100 locations nationwide to help improve the efficiency of field service support for these locations.

A.P. Moller –Maersk and IBM today announced their intent to establish a joint venture to provide more efficient and secure methods for conducting global trade using blockchain technology.

IBM Security today released a global study examining consumer perspectives around digital identity and authentication, which found that people now prioritize security over convenience when logging into applications and devices. Generational differences also emerged showing that younger adults are putting less care into traditional password hygiene, yet are more likely to use biometrics, multifactor authentication and password managers to improve their personal security.

IBM Security today announced the results of a global study exploring the factors and challenges of being a Cyber Resilient organization. The study was conducted by Ponemon Institute and sponsored by IBM Resilient and found that 77 percent of respondents admit they do not have a formal cyber security incident response plan (CSIRP) applied consistently across their organization. Nearly half of the 2800 respondents reported that their incident response plan is either informal/ad hoc or completely non-existent.

IBM announced today two significant quantum processor upgrades for its IBM Q early-access commercial systems. These upgrades represent rapid advances in quantum hardware as IBM continues to drive progress across the entire quantum computing technology stack, with focus on systems, software, applications and enablement.

IBM Watson Health™ today published its 100 Top Hospitals® annual study identifying top–performing hospitals in the U.S. based on overall organizational performance. Formerly known as the Truven Health Analytics® 100 Top Hospitals, this study spotlights the best–performing hospitals in the U.S. based on a balanced scorecard of publicly available clinical, operational, and patient satisfaction metrics and data. It has been conducted annually since 1993.

IBM today announced a new all-flash, high-performance data and file management solution for enterprise clients running exabyte-scale big data analytics, cognitive and AI applications. The combined flash and storage software solution has been certified with the Hortonworks Data Platform (HDP) to provide clients with more choice in selecting the right platform for their big data analytics on data processing engines like Hadoop and Spark.

IBM Japan today announced that Sony Corporation and Sony Global Education, a subsidiary of Sony that works to provide global educational services, have developed a new blockchain-based student education records platform. With the solution, school administrators can consolidate and manage students' educational data from several schools, as well as record and refer their learning history and digital academic transcripts with more certainty. The new platform, developed using IBM Blockchain, uses blockchain technology running on the IBM Cloud to track students’ learning progress, as well as establish transparency and accountability of scholastic achievements between students and schools.

IBM today announced a new data protection software that is easy to set up, easy to manage and helps simplify data recovery. IBM Spectrum Protect™Plus can be set up quickly making data protection available in as little as one hour.

IBM today announced the Integrated Analytics System, a new unified data system designed to give users fast, easy access to advanced data science capabilities and the ability to work with their data across private, public or hybrid cloud environments.

IBM today announced sweeping advances in its all-flash storage solutions and software to significantly drive down the costs of data and extend its solutions for hybrid and private cloud environments.

The IBM board of directors today elected Joseph R. Swedish and Frederick H. Waddell to the board.

The IBM board of directors today declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of $1.50 per common share, payable December 9, 2017 to stockholders of record November 10, 2017.

IBM inventors received a record 9,043 patents in 2017, marking the company’s 25th consecutive year of U.S. patent leadership and crossing the 100,000-patent milestone. The new patents were granted to a diverse group of more than 8,500 IBM researchers, engineers, scientists and designers in 47 different U.S. states and 47 countries.

IBM today announced that it broke the U.S. patent record with 8,088 patents granted to its inventors in 2016, marking the 24th consecutive year of innovation leadership. IBM’s 2016 patent output covers a diverse range of inventions in artificial intelligence and cognitive computing, cognitive health, cloud, cybersecurity and other strategic growth areas for the company.

Highlights  IBM scientists have measured how long information can stay in an individual atom  IBM breakthrough enables ability to actually record, study and visualize the magnetism of individual atoms at staggering speeds – one million times faster than previously possible  Could be valuable tool to study solar cells, quantum computing and storage-class memory at the nanoscale Today IBM researchers published a breakthrough technique in the peer-reviewed journal Science that measures how long a single atom can hold information, and giving scientists the ability to record, study and "visualize" extremely fast phenomena inside these atoms.

IBM today announced a research collaboratory in Singapore, where researchers from IBM intend to collaborate with scientists and engineers from public agencies in Singapore to improve the quality of its urban services. The focus of this research effort will be to use sensor networks to more effectively model, predict and manage the use of natural and physical infrastructure resources – water, transport and energy.  

Twitter and IBM today announced a landmark partnership that will help transform how businesses and institutions understand their customers, markets and trends – and inform every business decision. The alliance brings together Twitter data that distinctively represents the public pulse of the planet with IBM’s industry-leading cloud-based analytics, customer engagement platforms, and consulting services.

• Con vigencia de 10 años, Banorte e IBM firman alianza estratégica que permitirá establecer las bases de un nuevo modelo de banca enfocado al cliente, y mejorar sustancialmente sus índices de eficiencia para alcanzar niveles cercanos al 40%, así como retornos sobre capital superiores al 20%. El acuerdo incluye servicios de consultoría y de tecnología, investigación y desarrollo. • “Estamos plenamente satisfechos con el acuerdo logrado, pues este suma el mejor talento humano, tanto de IBM, como de Banorte Ixe, y está en línea con nuestra búsqueda de herramientas tecnológicas para servir a nuestros clientes de manera individualizada”: Alejandro Valenzuela.

IBM (NYSE: IBM) announced today that Workshop FX, a Wellington 3D Computer Animation and Visual FX company, is the first New Zealand customer to implement IBM SONAS, its scalable enterprise-class network attached storage array. SONAS (Scale Out Network Attached Storage) has enabled Workshop FX to significantly increase rendering productivity while preparing the studio for future business growth and emerging industry standards including 3D film production.

IBM and AT&T* today announced they have entered into a definitive agreement for IBM to acquire Sterling Commerce from AT&T for approximately $1.4 billion in cash. The acquisition of the Dublin, OH-based company will expand IBM's ability to help organizations create more intelligent and dynamic business networks by simplifying and automating the way they connect and communicate with customers, partners and suppliers both on-premise or through cloud computing delivery models.

IBM suma esfuerzos con Movimiento STEM, una asociación civil sin fines de lucro que busca involucrar a diferentes actores sociales para impulsar la educación en México en Ciencia, Tecnología, Ingeniería y Matemáticas, con enfoque de género.

Científicos de IBM (NYSE: IBM) desarrollaron un nuevo enfoque para simular moléculas en una computadora cuántica, lo que podrá un día ayudar a revolucionar la química y la ciencia de los materiales. Los científicos utilizaron con éxito un procesador cuántico de siete bits para abordar el problema de la estructura molecular del hidruro de berilio (BeH2), la molécula más grande simulada en una computadora cuántica hasta la fecha. Los resultados muestran una ruta de exploración para los sistemas cuánticos a corto plazo para realzar nuestra comprensión de las reacciones químicas complejas que podrían conducir a aplicaciones prácticas.

IBM (NYSE: IBM) presentó IBM Spectrum Storage, una nueva oferta de software de almacenamiento diseñada para cambiar la economía del almacenamiento mediante una capa de software inteligente. El nuevo software IBM crea una “huella de datos” eficiente que dinámicamente almacena cada bit de información a costo óptimo, maximizando rendimiento y garantizando la seguridad.

IBM anunció dos nuevas soluciones de almacenamiento empresarial completamente basadas en tecnología flash, las cuales ofrecen avanzada eficiencia e incremento en desempeño, así como una sobresaliente confiabilidad para ayudar a reducir costos, y acelerar infraestructuras y aplicaciones con manejo intensivo de datos.

Un nuevo estudio de IBM pone en entredicho algunas de las creencias que se tienen acerca de la generación del Milenio. Según el estudio elaborado por la Compañía, los nacidos en la Era Digital no son “ni perezosos, ni egoístas, ni superficiales” y aconseja a las empresas detenerse a conocer qué motiva a cada empleado para poder así maximizar sus cualidades únicas.

IBM fue reconocido como líder de software de almacenamiento en el Cuadrante Mágico de Gartner para Software de Recuperación y Respaldo en Centro de Datos1. En sus “cuadrantes mágicos”, los analistas de Gartner evalúan tecnología y soluciones con la “capacidad de ejecución” y una “visión completa”.

IBM y organizaciones aliadas lanzaron la iniciativa global 'Call for Code', el esfuerzo más grande y ambicioso para reunir a desarrolladores del sector académico y empresarial, para resolver uno de los problemas más acuciantes de la sociedad de nuestro tiempo: prevenir, responder y recuperarse de desastres naturales.

IBM today announced it plans to shift $100 million investment over the next five years into a major Research effort which aims to advance mobile services and capabilities for businesses and consumers worldwide.

Hace posible el cifrado en tiempo real sobre todas las transacciones móviles a escala. Primer sistema mainframe con análisis integrado que proporciona conocimientos de transacciones en tiempo real, 17 veces más rápido en comparación a sistemas competidores en una fracción del costo.

IBM anunció que fue designada como líder en el prestigiado modelo de evaluación de proveedores “IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Mobile Application Development and Testing Services 2014 Vendor Assessment”.

IBM today announced that Westpac New Zealand, part of one of the world’s largest financial services institutions, has selected IBM’s private cloud technology to support its goal to be New Zealand’s leading digital bank. The new five year agreement is part of an extensive services and technology contract which includes Westpac migrating some of its business critical IT systems into IBM’s state-of-the-art Auckland data centre, enabling enhanced customer service.

One in four A/NZ executives believe their organisations excel in leadership development New Zealand executives focusing on bringing back retired employees The Social Network: Largely absent from A/NZ organisations

IBM today announced that it set a new U.S. patent record in 2011, marking the 19th consecutive year that the company has led the annual list of patent recipients. IBM inventors earned a record 6,180 U.S. patents in 2011, more than quadrupling Hewlett-Packard’s issuances and exceeding by six times those of Oracle/Sun.

IBM (NYSE: IBM) announced today that the Victoria University of Wellington, on behalf of the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) Consortium, has selected IBM systems technology to help scientists probe the origins of the universe.

At the Smarter Cities Forum in Shanghai today, IBM announced a collaboration with South China's largest hospital, Guang Dong Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, to apply new analytics technology to help doctors uncover trends and new knowledge about disease treatment from thousands of anonymous Electronic Medical Records (EMR)The tool will also enable clinicians to perform empirical studies on the efficacy of certain traditional Chinese treatments.

IBM dio a conocer que el Tecnológico de Monterrey está transformando la gestión del entorno laboral de todas sus unidades de negocios con su solución de gestión de talento, Kenexa. La solución permite a los profesionales de Talento y Cultura (Recursos Humanos) del Tecnológico de Monterrey, tomar decisiones estratégicas a fin de impulsar los resultados de negocio basadas en hechos, es decir, sobre la base del análisis de talento (reporteadores) de su tradicional encuesta de clima organizacional.

IBM (NYSE: IBM) anunció hoy que está trabajando con más de 300 universidades y más de 400 instituciones educativas en toda Latinoamérica para respaldar la inminente necesidad de desarrollar habilidades asociadas a los requerimientos de la transformación digital, ya que el 60% de los ejecutivos se esfuerza hoy por mantener las habilidades de la fuerza laboral actualizadas y relevantes frente al rápido avance tecnológico.

IBM reveló un nuevo estudio acerca de la manera en que los profesionales de marketing y ventas están adoptando soluciones cognitivas o de Inteligencia Artificial (IA). A pesar de que el 64% de los Directores de Marketing -CMOs por sus siglas en inglés- y líderes de ventas encuestados cree que sus industrias estarán listas para adoptar ese tipo de tecnologías en los próximos tres años, sólo 24% de los encuestados cree que tiene una estrategia establecida para hacerlo en la actualidad.

IBM y el Instituto Tecnológico de Massachusetts (MIT) anunciaron los planes de IBM para realizar una inversión de 240 millones de dólares por 10 años a fin de crear el Laboratorio de Inteligencia Artificia MIT-IBM Watson. El laboratorio llevará a cabo investigaciones fundamentales de IA y buscará impulsar avances científicos que desbloqueen su potencial. La colaboración tiene como objetivo avanzar en el desarrollo del hardware, el software y los algoritmos de IA relacionados con el aprendizaje profundo y otras áreas, aumentar el impacto de la misma en industrias tales como el cuidado de la salud y la seguridad cibernética, así como explorar sus implicaciones económicas y éticas en la sociedad. La inversión de IBM de 240 millones de dólares en el laboratorio apoyará la investigación de científicos de IBM y del MIT.

(NYSE: IBM) will strengthen Australia and New Zealand’s chances of co-hosting the world’s biggest radio telescope project (SKA), one of the largest scientific projects ever undertaken. The IBM SUR Award of IBM high performance Graphical Processor Unit (GPU) based computer hardware, management software and implementation services, will enable Victoria University to support the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) project, a low frequency SKA pathfinder project hosted in Australia in collaboration with Curtin University, MIT, the Smithsonian Institute, and the Raman Research Institute.