Minnov8

Showcasing Minnesota Technology Innovation

Minnov8 Gang 321 – Prime Saves a Dime

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prime-dime-mainAmazon touted the great deals available during Amazon Prime Day this past week and they had good sales but not everyone thought so. Just before the show Phil stuck this funny Buzzfeed article about Amazon’s Prime Day fail into this week’s show notes and we found ourselves laughing out loud at some of the tweets they compiled.

The first tweet posted in the article is why the title of today’s podcast, and is at the core of why so many people didn’t find the deals all that great during Prime Day (see the embedded tweet at the bottom of this post).

Hosts: Steve Borsch, Tim Elliott, Graeme Thickins and Phil Wilson.
Music: 2am Blues by John Parisella under a Creative Commons License.

The Podcast

Podcast: Download (Duration: 57:35 — 33.7MB)

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Past Week’s Biggest MN Stories
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Steve’s Security Tip of the Week

Even though spam is “officially” down (Email Spam Rates Dip Below 50 Percent), many people I talk to seem to agree with my experience: Spam has exploded in the last year—especially quality spam that slips through spam filters—and this week’s tip is about creating, and using, email aliases to keep spammers at bay.

Cool Thing of the Week

Upcoming Events

Minnov8 Gang 320 – #IoT Goes Mainstream … or Not?

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iot-gang-mainTarget Stores has an Internet of Things concept in San Francisco? We discuss that and a bit about Apple Homekit, Google’s Project Brillo and Microsoft’s Windows 10 and Azure as IoT platforms. With Target in the game as a mass market retailer, does this mean IoT has hit the mainstream? Find out on this week’s show.

Hosts: Steve Borsch, Tim Elliott and Phil Wilson (Graeme Thickins is off).
Music: Walking the Streets by DJ Ecklectic Mick under a Creative Commons License.

The Podcast

Podcast: Download (Duration: 56:21 — 33.3MB)

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Steve’s Security Tip of the Week (SSTotW)

TIP: Critical Adobe Flash Security Updates. Uninstall Adobe Flash (or at least update) NOW.

Cool Thing of the Week (CTotW)
Upcoming Events

 

Akamai’s State of the Internet for Q1, 2015

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akamai-logoAkamai just released their 8th annual report on the state of the internet for the first quarter of 2015:

Over the course of the last seven years, since the report was first published, the World Wide Web and the Internet have grown and evolved in significant ways. The number of Internet users has more than doubled to an estimated 3.2 billion in 2015, and while Cisco noted that the number of Internet-connected devices first outnumbered the human population in 2008, it now predicts that there will be three networked devices per capita by 2019, up from nearly two networked devices per capita in 2014. From rudimentary Internet-connected smartphones in 2008 to sensors in nearly any imaginable device in 2015, the so-called Internet of Things will continue to drive massive increases in Internet usage.

View this page on Akamai’s site with an executive summary, key figures from the report, various global regions as infographics (the one for the America’s is below) or download the full report: Akamai_State-of-the-Internet-Q1_2015 (PDF)

akamai-q1-2015

Minnov8 Gang 319 – Technology is Everywhere…So Where are the Girls?

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technovationmn-mainIt seems like there has been lots of lip service paid to getting girls in to technology, while uncertainty seems to keep growing on exactly how to make that happen. The National Center for Women & Information Technology has this page with facts on “Girls in I.T.” (or just download the full report.) and it clearly defines the problem.

Fortunately there are Minnesotans who have found girls and are sparking their technology interest by stepping-up to mentor, guide and coach girls to experience, compete and embrace the possibilities when it comes to their futures in technology. Our guest, Shawn Stavseth, is deeply involved with several others in that mission, and she talks about their recent team winner (at the national challenge competition) and TechnovationMN overall.

Hosts: Steve Borsch, Tim Elliott, Graeme Thickins* and Phil Wilson.
Music: The Spectator by Kubbi under a Creative Commons License.

The Podcast

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Guest: Shawn Stavseth

Shawn_StavsethShawn is currently Senior Director of Product Development at Bluespire Marketing. Former Marketing pro at Thomson Reuters. Co-Founder and Executive Director at TechnovationMN. (LinkedIn; Twitter; TechnovationMN profile)

Steve’s Security Tip of the Week

TIP: If you are trying to stay anonymous online, and are using either Chrome or Firefox, disable WebRTC. Here is why: Chrome & Firefox Users Are Leaking Their IP Address…Even While Using a VPN

How to Disable WebRTC

  • In Firefox:
    • To disable WebRTC, in the address bar type in about:config and click-to-toggle media.peerconnection.enabled to false.
    • Or install this Firefox add-on
  • In Chrome:
    • Bad news? You CAN’T turn off WebRTC on desktop version of Google Chrome.
    • Good news? Install this Chrome Extension: WebRTC Block
Cool Thing of the Week
Upcoming Events
* Graeme Thickins’ Lakeside Recording Studio
Graeme Thickins' Lakeside Recording Studio

Left to Right:
Recording Studio on Wheels (aka, “The Love Machine)
The Cozy Interior View, Perfect for Snuggling
Lakeside View from the Driver’s Seat

Why WeatherBug wants to program your (Honeywell) thermostat

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honeywell-weatherbugGermantown-based WeatherBug has partnered with Honeywell to equip WiFi thermostats with weather-tracking technology, a move that pushes the company squarely into the growing Internet of Things business.

Honeywell thermostats can now be automatically programmed to the ideal temperature setting based on local weather data, as well as data about the home itself — whether or not there are any leaky windows or doors, for example — to generate energy savings and lower the strain on power grids.

Read more here…

Minnov8 Gang 318 – BuzzFeed, Marty & the iPhaser

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buzz-iphaser-marty_mainWe covered several important stories this week but were pleased that Marty Wetherall, Director of Innovation at Fallon & leader of StarterKit, could join us as our guest. Marty is a guy who is involved in lots of entrepreneurial, community and mentoring activities, two of which we talk about on this show.

Hosts: Steve Borsch, Tim Elliott, Graeme Thickins and Phil Wilson.
Music: Mustang Sally by James Friday under a Creative Commons License.

The Podcast

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:01:12 — 36.0MB)

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marty-wetherall-300
Guest: Marty Wetherall – Director of Innovation, Fallon
Other Top Tech Stories
Steve’s Security Tip of the Week
Cool Thing of the Week
Upcoming Events

Assemble Shared Office to open third location in Minneapolis

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assemble-mplsAssemble is excited to announce the opening of its third location in Minneapolis, MN after the company recently opened locations in Chicago’s Gold Coast and West Loop neighborhoods.

Assemble’s Minneapolis location will be located on the 5th floor in the historic 15 Building at 15 South Fifth Street on the north end of downtown. The Metro Blue Line is right in front of the building and it is steps away from the Nicollet Mall and Warehouse District. The 15 Building is also connected to the skyway system.

The company has invested $1.2M in renovations and will keep the exposed masonry and original flooring. Assemble Minneapolis will have over 50 office spaces and look similar to Assemble Chicago offices (see images below). The aesthetically striking office space will come loaded with critical business amenities included in monthly memberships (members will access to all Assemble locations): printing, WiFi, coffee, conference rooms, etc.

Besides the amenities, low cost, and striking designs, one of the biggest benefits of being an Assemble member is the sense of community. With common areas and weekly networking events, members are encouraged to collaborate and communicate.

The office will officially open mid-September 2015.

Max Meyers, Principal & Chief Investment Officer @ R2 Companies, (who sourced the transaction) said this about the investment and build-out: “R2 Companies is undergoing a significant capital improvement project at the 15 Building in Minneapolis to make it the premier skyway connected Creative Office building in the market. Bringing in a fantastic shared office user like Assemble fits perfectly within the ethos of the retrofit.”

Learn more about the Minneapolis’ North Loop location or book a tour.

Accenture on #IoT – The Era of Living Services

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iot-accenture-300A new report from Fjord, Design and Innovation from Accenture Interactive, explains how the digitization of everything + liquid consumer expectations are creating the next wave of digital transformation.

The report’s focus is on the Internet of Things (IoT) but from the perspective of learning, adapting, sensing things that are fluid and “liquid”:

You will have heard of the Internet of Things, but how will businesses and brands use it? How will health services, transportation, insurance, utilities and security companies, for example, evolve to match our increasingly liquid demands and expectations in a world where almost everything is digitized?

These questions are answered in this ground-breaking report on the future of everyday life by Fjord, which envisages how businesses from oil companies to retailers, will create entirely new types of customer service or ways of working.

The Era of Living Services describes how brands will use the Internet of Things and powerful data analytics to create services that come to life; predicting and reacting to consumers’ changing needs and circumstances. In other words, branded services that are personalized and change in real-time for every individual wherever they are and whatever they are doing. It looks at the effect Living Services will have on most aspects of our lives – from our homes, finances and work; to our health, shopping and the future of travel.

You can read more, download a PDF of the report, or watch a video here.

Minnov8 Gang 317 – In Jammies by the Lake

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jammies_mainWe always tease Graeme about podcasting from his cabin up north, wearing his up at the lake warm jammie pants (though in his defense, they likely fall more into the lounge wear category). Please note that none of us know if Graeme actually owns a onesie jammie set, with little ducks and bunnies on them, like you see in the photo.

Teasing aside, we are grateful Graeme makes the effort to climb into his acoustically perfect car, connect to his in-cabin Wifi, and c0-host the show!

Hosts: Steve Borsch, Tim Elliott, Graeme Thickins and Phil Wilson.
Music: Latin Blues by William Harris under a Creative Commons License.

The Podcast

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:09:53 — 41.0MB)

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Steve’s Security Tip of the Week

Cool Thing of the Week

 Upcoming Events

Minnov8 Gang 316 – A Grand Day Out

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Once again, Steve’s selection of music finds Phil and Tim a bit bemused and it reminds Phil of the claymation shorts and films starring Wallace & Gromit (Wikipedia; official site).

Later on we mention the story, Could UFO sighting be sign Large Hadron Collider has created portal to another dimension? which is, admittedly, a stretch as a tie-in: The first Wallace & Gromit film was a Grand Day Out*, where cheese-loving Wallace suggests a visit to the solar system’s biggest ball of cheese, our moon, because they just ran out of it.

Hosts: Steve Borsch, Tim Elliott and Phil Wilson (Graeme Thickins is off).
Music: Country Trouble by Dexter Britain under a Creative Commons License.

The Podcast

Podcast: Download (Duration: 58:01 — 34.1MB)

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Steve’s Security Tip of the Week

Cool Thing of the Week

Upcoming Events

* Steve Borsch: If you have kids or grandkids, they will absolutely love Wallace & Gromit. Mine did.

  • wandgAmazon.com is now streaming “Wallace and Gromit,” “Shaun the Sheep”, “The Complete Collection”, and films on its Prime Instant Video service.
  • You can purchase “The Complete Collection” of the primary four episodes in HD on iTunes
  • The film, The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, is also available for purchase on Google Play, Vudu and M-GO.