The Menlo Briefs

Liar, liar, circuits on fire - Most people believe that a computer will only do what you tell it to do. But what if you put that computer in the brain of a robot and program it to find food? Researchers at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland found that these robots, imbued with a artificial neural network, eventually learned to conceal their signals to other robots so they could keep more food for them selves. [more]

Flu fighters - Kai virus. Golden flu. Jabali virus. Gamer's flu. Broadway virus. No, it's not the CDC's "Most Wanted" list, it's a game originally designed for Dutch teenagers where you fight various nasty viruses. "The game is very realistic and has an educational value," said said Albert Osterhaus, head of virology at Rotterdam's Erasmus Medical Centre. "It informs people how the virus spreads, what the flu is and on the ways to fight the pandemic." [more]

Digital "Spring cleaning" - Computer storage over the last decade: Floppies, Zip disks, Jaz drives, CDs, DVDs...and that's just off the top of my head. How many more storage mediums do you have laying around your house? Do you remember that these decay over time, which means you might not be able to watch that video you shot of your two year old's birthday party on her eighteenth birthday. [more]

Education 2.0 - Is the model of education changing? Professor David Wiley of Brigham Young University thinks so. "If universities can't find the will to innovate and adapt to changes in the world around them," he's written, "universities will be irrelevant by 2020." The challenge is not to bring technology into the classroom, he points out. The millennials have already done that. His belief is that the challenge lies in capturing the potential of technology, thereby lowering costs and improving learning for all. [more]

Come out, come out, wherever you are - Once upon a time, finding someone who was missing -- for whatever reason -- meant lots of hard work. These days, however, everyone leaves a trace. Anyone with a cell phone and a web connection can do in ten minutes what used to take hours -- or even days. [more]

Help is available - Yes, that's really me on the cover of Forbes magazine! I founded Menlo Innovations to help software product companies like yours. And at Menlo, we practice what we preach - making products more valuable to your customers, more friendly to your users, and more profitable to you! Come to Menlo for a Taste of how we use High-tech Anthropology^® to build highly useable and useful software for you and your customers.

Rats! - Scientists have long been breeding mice with particular characteristics for scientific research, but haven't been able to do the same with rats. Until now, that is. Last month researchers published a study explaining how to make "designer rats." According to the article, "This is important because, while mice are great models for studying diseases like cancer, rat physiology is closer to that of humans, and rats are much better for testing toxicity of drugs and neurological diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, as well as for studying learning and addiction." [more]

If you have to ask, you probably aren't - Have you ever wondered why you should be an ethical company? Business Week columnist Vivek Wadhwa suggests that ethical companies are stronger and last longer than their shortsighted counterparts who focus on short-term profits to the exclusion of all else. [more]

The old morning routine - Wake up. Brush. Logon. Wait a minute -- logon? Yes, it's true. With the overwhelming number of smartphones out in the market, workers are starting their day earlier and earlier. A poll by silicon.com found that 8am was the favored time for checking email. [more]

Thumbs up for phones in the classroom? - According to an article from Inside Higher Ed, a growing number of universities are teaching students to program for the iPhone, Google's Android, and other smart phone systems, fueled by the belief that mobile development is the next technological gold mine. [more]

Follow us! - If you'd like to hear more from us between issues of The Menlo Briefs, there are a couple options. First, we're on Twitter! You can follow Menlo at @menloinnovation or me directly at @menloprez. We're also on Facebook -- just search for Menlo Innovations! If all of that isn't enough to satisfy you, you can also e-mail us directly at briefs2009@menloinnovations.com.We look forward to hearing from you!