IEEE Cloud 2012 Conference

IEEE CLOUD 2012 brought together industry professionals, researchers, academics, and government workers to explore the challenges and opportunities of cloud computing, the so-called "fourth wave" of computing. This video showcases some of the key concepts and activities from the conference and points to the ongoing efforts to turn cloud computing into the successful leap that so many computing leaders believe it will be.

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How four companies took over the Internet

How four companies took over the Internet

Moderator Eric Savitz (left) oversaw a Techonomy panel with Internet analysts Alec Ellison, Steve Hasker and Mark Mahaney.

TUCSON (CNNMoney) -- There are four tech companies controlling the industry's direction: Apple, Google, Amazon and Facebook. Will they still be ruling the tech field in a decade?

Fake tech gear has infiltrated the U.S. government:

this counterfeit microchip for military use was seized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. It's one of a growing number of fake tech products inadvertently bought by the government.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- A record number of tech products used by the U.S. military and dozens of other federal agencies are fake. That opens up a myriad of national security risks, from dud missiles to short-circuiting airplane parts to cyberespionage.

Despite laws designed to crack down on counterfeiters, suppliers labeled by the U.S. government as "high risk" are increasing their sales to federal agencies. Their presence in government's supply chain soared 63% over the past decade, according to a new study released by IHS, a supply chain management consultancy.

Celebrations as Higgs boson is finally discovered

Celebrations as Higgs boson is finally discovered:

There's a 5-in-10 million chance that this is a fluke. That was enough for physicists to declare that the Higgs boson – the world's most-wanted particle – has been discovered. Rapturous applause, whistles and cheers filled the auditorium at CERN, near Geneva, Switzerland.                                                                                               Almost 50 years after its existence was first predicted, the breakthrough means that the standard model of particle physics, which explains all known particles and the forces that act upon them, is now complete.

A Higgs boson with a mass of around 125 to 126 gigaelectronvolts (GeV) was seen separately by the twin CMS and ATLAS detectors at the Large Hadron Collider, each with a confidence level of 5 sigma, or standard deviations, the heads of the experiments announced today at CERN.

Even by particle physicists' strict standards, that's statistically significant enough to count as a particle discovery.

"I think we have it," said Rolf Heuer, director general of CERN, as he concluded a hotly-anticipated seminar, which began today at 9am local time.

Around the world the results were being watched at the International Conference on High Energy Physics in Melbourne, Australia.

Apple (again) tops list of most innovative companies:

Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller holds up an iPad Mini, the company's newest gadge
For the third year in a row, Apple was named number one in management consulting firm Booz & Company's annual survey of the top 10 most innovative companies.Almost 80 percent of the respondents in the 700-company survey (.pdf) named Apple as one of the top three most innovative companies in the world. Google, which took the second spot overall, ahead of 3M, was listed in the top three by 43 percent of respondents.But what is innovation? How can it be quantified, and what does it mean that Apple comes out on top? Reticle Research analyst Ross Rubin notes there are different kinds of innovation, and different companies excel in different areas.

Batteries not required, just plug into ear cells:

For the first time, an electrical device has been powered by the ear alone.

The team behind the technology used a natural electrochemical 

gradient in cells within the inner ear of a guinea pig to power a wireless transmitter for up to five hours.

The technique could one day provide an autonomous power source for brain and cochlear implants, says Tina Stankovic, an auditory neuroscientist at Harvard University Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts.

Nerve cells use the movement of positively charged sodium and potassium ions across a membrane to create an electrochemical gradient that drives neural signals. Some cells in the cochlear have the same kind of gradient, which is used to convert the mechanical force of the vibrating eardrum into electrical signals that the brain can understand.

The Timex Thumbnail Watch

The TX54 is a concept design which featured in the global design competition organized by Timex in collaboration with Core77. The design competition was held to commemorate 150 years of watch crafting and time keeping. The device is transparent and needs to be kept at the thumbnail or stays clear till the time it is activated. To activate or check time, one can just glance at the time when needed. It is small, chic and minimalist. Of course one can simply glance at their cell phone than going for another gadget but with its looks and various modes it a nice way to keep time.