Minnov8

Showcasing Minnesota Technology Innovation

Minnov8 Gang 299 – Tim’s Raspberry Pie

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Tim loves him some raspberry pie…or is it Raspberry Pi? Listen and find out.

Hosts: Steve Borsch, Tim Elliott and Phil Wilson (Graeme Thickins is off).
Music: Stickybee by Josh Woodward. Brought to us by the podsafe Music Alley.

The Podcast

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Past Week’s Biggest MN Stories
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Steve’s Security Tip of the Week
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Minnov8 Gang 298 – Welcome to Skynet

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skynet-mainWhat if our internet-connected world wakes up, becomes super-intelligent, and Skynet becomes a reality? Should we really be concerned about that? Entrepreneur Elon Musk and physicist Stephen Hawking sure think so, and this past week Bill Gates joined them in expressing his concern about the coming super-intelligent machines.

The Gang, on the other hand, focuses on much more pressing issues like broadband, Apple making the most profit in one quarter than any company ever, and how annoying linkbait has become.

Hosts: Steve Borsch, Tim Elliott, Graeme Thickins and Phil Wilson.
Music: What Makes A Fool Fall In Love by BooBoo Davis. Brought to us by the podsafe Music Alley.

The Podcast

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:00:52 — 35.6MB)

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Past Week’s Biggest MN Stories
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skynet

Steve’s Security Tip of the Week
Cool Thing of the Week
Link Bait of the Week

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Upcoming Events

Mobile Digital Health Conference Debuts

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mobcon-dhWith Minnesota’s success in medical devices, and increasingly in med-tech overall, focusing health innovation with mobile in one event is a smart strategy.

A new conference called MobCon Digital Health will be held April 8, 2015 at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Minneapolis.

Click here to register.

MobCon Launches a Digital Health Conference in 2015

MobCon Digital Health to Focus on Technology in the Healthcare Industry

MINNEAPOLIS, MN. JANUARY 26, 2015—MobCon, an innovative mobile strategy conference in Minneapolis, announced today the launch of MobCon Digital Health in 2015. On the heels of the highly successful MobCon 2014, which was attended by hundreds of mobile enthusiasts from around the country, MobCon Digital Health, to be held at the Hyatt Regency Minneapolis on April 8, 2015, will zero in on advances in technology that will impact the healthcare industry.

Emceed by Archelle Georgiou, MD, a physician and healthcare industry expert for KSTP-5 Eyewitness News and President of Georgiou Consulting. MobCon Digital Health will be a powerful force for the future of digital healthcare. Keynote presentations and educational tracks on the Future of Digital Health, Regulatory & Legal Compliance, The Power of Data, From Sensors to Mobile, and Digital Health as a Business will be presented by the top minds in the healthcare industry.

MobCon Digital Health has also announced its Advisory Board, which will provide insights into trends in the healthcare industry and offer guidance on program development. The Board includes:

  • Jack Cosentino, Health Practice Director, MentorMate
  • Sara Ratner, Senior Vice President of Operations, RedBrick Health
  • Archelle Georgiou, MD, President, Georgiou Consulting
  • Shaye Mandle, President and CEO, LifeScience Alley
  • Ann Holder, Executive Director, Medtronic
  • Amy Ronneberg, CFO, Be the Match
  • Jeffrey Blank, Managing Director, Treehouse Health
  • Levi Downs, MD, Chief Medical Officer, University of Minnesota Health
  • Kevin Ronneberg, MD, Medical Director, Target Corporation
  • Tim Bowman, Director, Entrepreneur in Residence, Optum
  • Timmeko Love, Business Development Manager, Mayo Clinic Ventures
  • Nancy Kingsland, Senior Manager, Global Health Promotion, General Mills

About MobCon Digital Health: MobCon Digital Health is the foremost healthcare technology conference, bringing together top medical industry experts and healthcare IT innovators for a one-day event to showcase the emerging models of healthcare. Designed as a central point to engage and share innovation, best practices and digital and mobile strategies related to health and healthcare, MobCon Digital Health will empower attendees to discover new ways to improve healthcare outcomes. Learn more here.

Minnov8 Gang 297 – We Found Bigfoot

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Skymall has declared bankruptcy!?! Say it isn’t so. Now we’ll never be able to buy another lifesize Bigfoot statute for $2,250 again.

Hosts: Steve Borsch, Tim Elliott, Graeme Thickins and Phil Wilson.
Music: Silent Fog by Dave LaGrande. Brought to us by the podsafe Music Alley.

The Podcast

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:08:42 — 58.8MB)

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Story Links
Past Week’s Biggest MN Stories
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Steve’s Security Tip of the Week
  • Serious threat, so patch (or disable) Adobe Flash Player right now!
    • Brian Krebs: Flash Patch Targets Zero-Day Exploit
    • What can you do? You have two choices: Disable, or patch, the Adobe Flash Player:
      • Uninstall and disable Adobe Flash Player altogether (recommended)
        • Uninstallers and/or instructions for Windows  |  Mac  |  Linux
        • Additional steps:
          • Google Chrome has Adobe Flash Player embedded in its install and, even though the uninstaller will likely eradicate Adobe Flash Player from your machine’s browsers, it is highly recommended that you ensure it is disabled. Here are the disabling instructions for Google Chrome on Windows/Mac/Linux/Chrome OS.
          • Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, et al: Though other browsers also likely will Adobe Flash Player removed during the uninstall process, you should still double-check your browser’s plugins to be certain Flash is disabled.
      • Install (or update) if you must have Adobe Flash Player running. But if you do, make certain you check the installer box to allow Adobe’s auto-updating!
Cool Thing of the Week
Upcoming Events

Minnov8 Gang 296 – Too Many Horses!

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The show tagline Too Many Horses is all about the intro for Steve’s Security Tip of the Week…or is it?

Instead, maybe it’s Tim’s Budweiser shipment has arrived and he’s unhappy he now has to clean up after the Clydesdales; Phil realizes, like 1930s actor John Barrymore’s famous quote,  there are too many horses, and not enough time; or Graeme is profoundly disappointed that his favorite breakfast cereal actually contains no little horse shapes, just round thingies.

Listen to uncover the truth!

Hosts: Steve Borsch, Tim Elliott, Graeme Thickins and Phil Wilson.
Music: Jump by Chris Daniels & the King. Brought to us by the podsafe Music Alley.

The Podcast

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:07:33 — 39.7MB)

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Story Links
Past Week’s Biggest MN Stories
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Steve’s Security Tip of the Week
Cool Thing of the Week
Upcoming Events

Minnov8 Gang 295 – Do NOT Eat the Super Cookies!

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supercookies_mainLots of news this week, especially since the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show just ended. Graeme Thickins was there and we’ve also linked to several recaps so you can see more.

Unfortunately it looks like we have yet another privacy-breaching tracker ‘super cookie’ in our midst and we talk about that too. One privacy bright spot potentially? There is legislation pending here in Minnesota that would make it illegal to perform warrantless vacuum surveillance. Listen to learn more.

Hosts: Steve Borsch, Tim Elliott, Graeme Thickins and Phil Wilson.
Music: Boos Boogie Woogie by Boo Boo Davis. Brought to us by the podsafe Music Alley.

The Podcast
Story Links
Past Week’s Biggest MN Stories
Other Top Stories & Mentions
Steve’s Security Tip of the Week
Cool Thing of the Week
Upcoming Events

Technovation’s App Day Adventure

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technovationOften it seems that there is only lip service paid to the fact that there are fewer girls and young women learning to code and embrace technical engineering. Then there are organizations like Technovation[MN] (brought to Minnesota by Code Savvy) who have already taken action and are doing something about it.

Their Technovation Challenge season kicks off on January 11th with their ‘App Day’ adventure. Read the press release below for more information and how you can participate.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact: Melanie Shirley
612.385.7846

Technovation[MN] kicks off the Technovation Challenge
season with App Day on January 11

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn., January 7, 2014 – On January 11, more than 20 girls and 20 mentors will gather at TIES Training Center to learn how to code mobile apps in preparation for the Technovation Challenge that kicks off on January 12th.

Technovation[MN] is launching the Technovation Challenge in Minnesota for the second year in a row. The Technovation Challenge inspires girls in middle and high school to dream up, design, code and pitch mobile phone apps that help their communities. Through this program, Technovation[MN] seeks to attract, encourage and inspire the next generation of women technology entrepreneurs and empowers them to use technology to make the world a better place.

Last year, twelve teams of girls, ages 10 to 19, from Twin Cities area middle schools and high schools participated in the Technovation Challenge. This year, Technovation[MN] plans to have 25 – 30 teams from Twin Cities area schools guided by over 80 mentors from local businesses and organizations. Together, they will follow the Technovation Challenge curriculum to dream up, design and build their mobile apps. Teams build apps that solve a community problem or address a teen or womens’ issue.

“Our community volunteers and mentors are working to close the gender gap in computer science by teaching girls how to code and how to be successful entrepreneurs,” explained Shawn Stavseth, Co-Founder of Technovation[MN]. “Designing mobile apps is real and tangible for these girls because their phones are something they use every day. We want girls to understand the powerful role that technology can play in solving world problems.”

This year’s Technovation Challenge will conclude with a celebration on April 26 called Appapalooza, where the teams will show and pitch their mobile apps. The Appapalooza event is free and open to the public. To learn more, please go to Technovation[MN].

YOUR PARTICIPATION

  • Do you know a girl or a school that would want to be on a Technovation[MN] team? Apply here.
  • Do you want to volunteer to be a part of this amazing organization to help girls learn about coding and entrepreneurship? Contact Technovation[MN] here.
  • Interested in supporting Technovation[MN] with a gift? Donations are welcome here.

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About Technovation[MN]: Technovation[MN] was formed to bring the global Technovation Challenge to Minnesota. We want to inspire and enable Minnesota teen girls to dream up, design, code and pitch mobile phone apps. We provide information, resources, and encouragement for Minnesota Technovation Challenge teams including mentor recruitment and training. We also host several App Days to excite interest, and the Minnesota Appapalooza event to celebrate our girls success.

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2015 CES: Samsung’s SmartThings Rolls Out New Product & Services

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ST-CES2015As expected, Samsung’s CEO BK Yoon delivered an Internet of Things-centric keynote. Though the keynote was surprisingly simplistic and quite basic, he did give a high level overview that focused on the importance of open standards. He then committed to Samsung being open and focused on open, interoperable things.

He then introduced Alex Hawkinson, SmartThings’ CEO.

Without going in to any specifics, Hawkinson proceeded to roll out their new hub, new sensors, and a premium cloud service while touting their partnerships and that they’ve doubled the number of developers since being acquired by Samsung six months ago.

The new hub is particularly welcome from we early adopters (I’ve been a user since day one). The current hub only worked when the internet connection was live and it was quite frustrating when their service was down and lights wouldn’t turn on (or off…and be on all night). Now, should your internet connection go down, the hub will still perform all of its functions to trigger events with the ‘things’ connected to it.

Their blog post had this to say about what was new:

The new SmartThings Hub includes a more powerful processor and local app engine, built-in backup battery power, and expanded cellular connectivity. This will enable SmartThings to continue operating in the event of a power or Internet outage.

The new Hub also expands connectivity options to include additional wireless protocols such as Bluetooth Smart, providing customers with the widest range of devices supported by any smart home platform.

They’ve also announced a new family of sensors with modified versions of the SmartSense Presence, SmartSense Motion, and SmartSense Multi sensors.

In addition, a new (optional) premium cloud-based service will “…offer customers advanced incident management control, and improved home monitoring through DVR video streaming.“

While potentially exciting, the cloud service also has a potential downside. Like many companies in the Internet of Things space, SmartThings/Samsung is seemingly salivating over the prospect of having all of our connected-device data flowing to them.

Samsung connected TVs is already collecting our TV watching habits and a comprehensive service collecting significant usage data from within our homes could be problematic from  a privacy perspective.

After SmartThings CEO Alex Hawkinson spoke about their new premium service, there was a short segment about how an Internet of Things wine refrigerator could understand consumption patterns and make recommendations, but then went on to talk about the huge benefit for marketing and the supply chain to understand all of it. That intimates in-home usage data would benefit marketers and stores, and potentially also cause unknown privacy breaches.

So perhaps we can set up the new SmartThings hub, get it working, and then disconnect it from the internet?

Minnov8 Gang 294 – The CES Lounge Singer

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lounger-singer-mainGraeme is headed to Las Vegas for the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show and will be performing his lounge act, no doubt. (Actually, he’s working with some of his Minnesota clients showcasing their offerings at the show, but who knows?).

Hosts: Steve Borsch, Tim Elliott and Phil Wilson (Graeme Thickins is off).
Music: Handful of Stars by Midnight Music Quartet. Brought to us by the podsafe Music Alley.

The Podcast
Story Links
Past Week’s Biggest MN Stories
Other Top Stories
Steve’s Security Tip of the Week

Top Five Security New Year’s Resolutions

1) Use two-factor authentication whenever possible

2) Use a password manager

3) Be smart, and safe, with your computing

4) Encrypt your hard drive, especially on your laptop!

5) Use a VPN

Cool Thing of the Week
Upcoming Events

StarTribune: IoT is Target for Hackers

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strib-iot

Article by the StarTribune’s Jeff Hargarten on Internet of Things cyberattack threat:

Cyberattacks launched through toasters, dishwashers, watches and refrigerators are among the threats information security professionals anticipate as the “Internet of things” becomes a reality.

…there have already been recorded instances of other home appliances across the country being exploited by hackers. Earlier this year, 750,000 spam e-mails were traced back to a “thingnet” of more than 100,000 gadgets that included televisions, home entertainment centers and at least one refrigerator.

Read ‘Internet of things’ is soft target for hackers for more…