Web/Tech

  • Sparks of Innovation

    Here is a video reminder that a small insight can make possible radically different results.

    Was this just a proof of concept … or will it be the catalyst to more.  To some it might be little more than science fiction … to others it may have been the open door to something completely new and different.

    Thoughts Do Become Things

    Here is an example where a simple text-book idea really transformed lives.  And it is a good story.

    William Kamkwamba, from Malawi, is a born inventor. When he was 14, he built an electricity-producing windmill from spare parts and scrap, working from rough plans he found in a library book called "Using Energy" and modifying them to fit his needs. The windmill he built powers four lights and two radios in his family home. Now it is changing his homeland.

    Here is a link to more about William Kamkwamba and his TedTalk Videos.

    Here is a link to the book: The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope.

  • Here are the iPhone Business Apps I Use Most

    This week I'm listing the iPhone business and productivity apps that I find worth using.
    Click here to explore last week's list of the fun stuff.

    At first I wanted to create a list of the coolest iPhone apps. However, cool doesn't necessarily mean useful. Instead, this is a list of the applications that I use most. I limited myself to the top two applications per category.

    For more information about these applications, click the links to go to the developer's site.  Even if you don't have an iPhone, check-out the links to see what is
    available.  I am amazed at how much of my computing and basic research
    are now done on my phone (as opposed to laptop or desktop computers).

    Stock Market Info

    090919 iPhone Apps

    Business News

    General News

    Reference

    To-Do Lists

    Calculators

    Conversions

    Ideas

    Travel

    That's it for now.  Let me know if I forgot your favorite or you found something worth sharing.

  • Here are the iPhone Business Apps I Use Most

    This week I'm listing the iPhone business and productivity apps that I find worth using.
    Click here to explore last week's list of the fun stuff.

    At first I wanted to create a list of the coolest iPhone apps. However, cool doesn't necessarily mean useful. Instead, this is a list of the applications that I use most. I limited myself to the top two applications per category.

    For more information about these applications, click the links to go to the developer's site.  Even if you don't have an iPhone, check-out the links to see what is
    available.  I am amazed at how much of my computing and basic research
    are now done on my phone (as opposed to laptop or desktop computers).

    Stock Market Info

    090919 iPhone Apps

    Business News

    General News

    Reference

    To-Do Lists

    Calculators

    Conversions

    Ideas

    Travel

    That's it for now.  Let me know if I forgot your favorite or you found something worth sharing.

  • Capitalogix Commentary 09/20/09

    Another week of strong performance by the markets leaves me searching for clues and signs of weakness. It's not that I don't like how the markets are reacting; because this has been a nice traders market. However, trading is about risk management and doing your best to recognize fear or greed.

    So, one of the indicators I use to probe beneath the surface of the market is a measure of what the largest traders, Mutual Funds, are doing. There is a phrase that explains this well. Elephants leave tracks.

    090920 Mutual Fund Selling

    As you can see, while the markets continue to make new highs, Long-term mutual fund investors have reversed this month; selling shares, rather than dumping money in. Based on the first two weeks of the month, September's outflows will be bigger than the inflows seen in the last three months combined.

    It's not surprising that commercial traders are far less bullish than retail investors at this point of the rally.  This Dilbert cartoon sums up the way traders have been playing: "Forage during daylight and Hide at Night."

    090920 Dilbert Forage By Day and Hide at Night

    More telling, perhaps, is that company insiders have been doing their best to sell recently. For example, in August, each dollar of insider buying was dramatically overshadowed by $30 of insider selling.  Here is a chart from Insidercow showing how bearish insiders are right now.

    090920 Insiders Selling Not Buying

    Another indicator of indecision shown by the Japanese candlestick pattern called a Doji. It forms when the market opens and closes at approximately the same price, despite having gone higher and lower throughout the day. It indicates a fundamental disagreement between buyers and sellers, and as you can see by the chart below, often marks a reversal point.  In the daily chart of the NASDAQ, below, I marked Doji reversals.

    090920 NasdaqDoji

    None of this means that the market is going to make new lows. Instead, they're just clues. In my experience though, it's better to prepare for a storm before it hits. If it passes without incident, the planning and preparation are probably still worthwhile.

    If remember the every trade is the result of a disagreement, someone is betting that the price will go up, while someone else is betting that prices going down. Being able to see a trade from both perspectives is a good skill to develop. If you're bullish right now, use the opportunity to understand what a short seller might be seeing at this point in time. And if you're convinced the market is going down, then remember the adage don't fight the Fed and how important sentiment is. Look for areas of breakout to the upside.

    Business Posts Moving the Markets that I Found Interesting This Week:

    Lighter Ideas and Fun Links that I Found Interesting This Week

  • Capitalogix Commentary 09/20/09

    Another week of strong performance by the markets leaves me searching for clues and signs of weakness. It's not that I don't like how the markets are reacting; because this has been a nice traders market. However, trading is about risk management and doing your best to recognize fear or greed.

    So, one of the indicators I use to probe beneath the surface of the market is a measure of what the largest traders, Mutual Funds, are doing. There is a phrase that explains this well. Elephants leave tracks.

    090920 Mutual Fund Selling

    As you can see, while the markets continue to make new highs, Long-term mutual fund investors have reversed this month; selling shares, rather than dumping money in. Based on the first two weeks of the month, September's outflows will be bigger than the inflows seen in the last three months combined.

    It's not surprising that commercial traders are far less bullish than retail investors at this point of the rally.  This Dilbert cartoon sums up the way traders have been playing: "Forage during daylight and Hide at Night."

    090920 Dilbert Forage By Day and Hide at Night

    More telling, perhaps, is that company insiders have been doing their best to sell recently. For example, in August, each dollar of insider buying was dramatically overshadowed by $30 of insider selling.  Here is a chart from Insidercow showing how bearish insiders are right now.

    090920 Insiders Selling Not Buying

    Another indicator of indecision shown by the Japanese candlestick pattern called a Doji. It forms when the market opens and closes at approximately the same price, despite having gone higher and lower throughout the day. It indicates a fundamental disagreement between buyers and sellers, and as you can see by the chart below, often marks a reversal point.  In the daily chart of the NASDAQ, below, I marked Doji reversals.

    090920 NasdaqDoji

    None of this means that the market is going to make new lows. Instead, they're just clues. In my experience though, it's better to prepare for a storm before it hits. If it passes without incident, the planning and preparation are probably still worthwhile.

    If remember the every trade is the result of a disagreement, someone is betting that the price will go up, while someone else is betting that prices going down. Being able to see a trade from both perspectives is a good skill to develop. If you're bullish right now, use the opportunity to understand what a short seller might be seeing at this point in time. And if you're convinced the market is going down, then remember the adage don't fight the Fed and how important sentiment is. Look for areas of breakout to the upside.

    Business Posts Moving the Markets that I Found Interesting This Week:

    Lighter Ideas and Fun Links that I Found Interesting This Week

  • Here’s a List of Fun iPhone Apps Worth Using

    I wanted to create a list of the coolest iPhone apps. However, cool doesn't necessarily mean useful. Instead, this is a list of the applications that I use most.

    This week I'm listing the lighter and more fun iPhone apps.  Here is the link to the list the business and productivity apps that I use most.

    I limited myself to the top two applications per category.  Hope you find some cool stuff in here.

    Social Media

    Food & Fun Finders

    090913 iPhone Apps

    Games: Strategy

    Games: Puzzle

    Games: Pattern Matching

    Games: Text

    Music

    Photo Fun

    Health & Fitness

    Relaxation

    Sports News

    Shopping

    Even if you don't have an iPhone, check-out the links to see what is available.  I am amazed at how much of my computing and basic research are now done on a Smartphone.

    That's it for now.  Let me know if I forgot your favorite or you found something worth sharing.

  • Here’s a List of Fun iPhone Apps Worth Using

    I wanted to create a list of the coolest iPhone apps. However, cool doesn't necessarily mean useful. Instead, this is a list of the applications that I use most.

    This week I'm listing the lighter and more fun iPhone apps.  Here is the link to the list the business and productivity apps that I use most.

    I limited myself to the top two applications per category.  Hope you find some cool stuff in here.

    Social Media

    Food & Fun Finders

    090913 iPhone Apps

    Games: Strategy

    Games: Puzzle

    Games: Pattern Matching

    Games: Text

    Music

    Photo Fun

    Health & Fitness

    Relaxation

    Sports News

    Shopping

    Even if you don't have an iPhone, check-out the links to see what is available.  I am amazed at how much of my computing and basic research are now done on a Smartphone.

    That's it for now.  Let me know if I forgot your favorite or you found something worth sharing.

  • Augmenting Reality

    090830 Minority-Report UI Sometimes new technology seems like science fiction. Other times, science fiction introduces us to new technology.

    I remember watching Minority Report and having a sense that I was watching a future closer than it seemed. There's a scene where Tom Cruise is walking through a shopping area and each time he passes a store there is a personalized ad; and in other scenes there is a "Terminator-Like" text that overlays the physically real world. That is called "Augmented Reality". 

    Well, your phone may not be as cool as that, yet; however it's getting there pretty quickly.

    The next picture doesn't look like much; but it's using the iPhone's built-in camera and GPS unit to recognize highly rated restaurants in real time. The application doing this is Yelp. This feature is
    currently hidden by default; but you can turn it on by shaking your
    phone vigorously, until the "Monocle" feature activates.

    090830 Augmented Reality

    Soon, I imagine this will be enhanced further with a discount coupons and the
    ability to place orders before you walk in the door. Nonetheless, it's
    an example of what's coming.

    Where Else Will This Be Useful?

    Imagine what this could do to the real-estate industry (as price per square foot, tax rates, etc. overlay the properties as you drive by). Or, imagine traders looking at a chart displaying the most relevant indicators, patterns, setups, and triggers for the company or market they are analyzing.  It gives a whole new meaning to real-time business intelligence.

  • Augmenting Reality

    090830 Minority-Report UI Sometimes new technology seems like science fiction. Other times, science fiction introduces us to new technology.

    I remember watching Minority Report and having a sense that I was watching a future closer than it seemed. There's a scene where Tom Cruise is walking through a shopping area and each time he passes a store there is a personalized ad; and in other scenes there is a "Terminator-Like" text that overlays the physically real world. That is called "Augmented Reality". 

    Well, your phone may not be as cool as that, yet; however it's getting there pretty quickly.

    The next picture doesn't look like much; but it's using the iPhone's built-in camera and GPS unit to recognize highly rated restaurants in real time. The application doing this is Yelp. This feature is
    currently hidden by default; but you can turn it on by shaking your
    phone vigorously, until the "Monocle" feature activates.

    090830 Augmented Reality

    Soon, I imagine this will be enhanced further with a discount coupons and the
    ability to place orders before you walk in the door. Nonetheless, it's
    an example of what's coming.

    Where Else Will This Be Useful?

    Imagine what this could do to the real-estate industry (as price per square foot, tax rates, etc. overlay the properties as you drive by). Or, imagine traders looking at a chart displaying the most relevant indicators, patterns, setups, and triggers for the company or market they are analyzing.  It gives a whole new meaning to real-time business intelligence.

  • TechTracker is Worth a Look

    090830 TechTracker Logo Staying up-to-date just got a little easier.  CNet launched a new service that scans your PC and checks your installed programs to see if updates are available to you.

    I tried TechTracker and found it to be fast, accurate and helpful.  They are coming out with a Mac version soon.  Here is an example screenshot showing what it alerted me to update.

    090830 TechTracker Scan

    Other Info:

    I use a few other services, like this, that are worth a look also.