Articles by Aminda

The Atlantic has compiled a list of “Best Ideas”, which contains some great gift ideas for the innovator or technophile who has everything on your Christmas shopping list. Here are some examples.

Open Source Textiles

San Franciscobased Soft Cities employs open-source software to access a global collection of maps, which is then used to create custom blankets and napkins. Buyers can order custom textiles printed with a street map of any neighborhood, from a hometown to a favorite vacation spot. Read the rest of this entry »

In tribute to the tremendous influence of Steve Jobs, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is featuring The Patents and Trademarks of Steve Jobs: Art and Technology that Changed the World. The free exhibit at the USPTO’s museum in Alexandria, Virginia will be open through January 15, 2012This exhibit commemorates the far-reaching impact of Steve Jobs’ entrepreneurship and innovation on our daily lives,” said Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO David Kappos. “His patents and trademarks provide a striking example of the importance intellectual property plays in the global marketplace.” Read the rest of this entry »

A recent post discussed the importance of getting more participation in open science. An article from Top Coder provides some interesting insight into why “gamesourcing” has been such a successful way to engage users in scientific projects.

While the gamesourcing model may not solve every problem, Adrien Treuille, co-founder of FoldIt, a gamesourcing platform which successfully solved a molecular, explains why game-play and Crowdsourcing worked so well for that challenge. Among her reasons:

It’s a Total Rush! Playing a game is fun. Games that tie social experiences to the game-play can be extremely fun for the players. The Foldit creators experienced this first hand as an excited and dedicated community quickly developed around this game. In other words, it wasn’t work, it was enjoyable and therefore people kept coming back to play more. Read the rest of this entry »