OU to train
scientists in next-generation radio technology
Through the support of a $95,000
grant, awarded by the U.S. Congress and administered by the U.S. Department
of Education, Oakland University will begin training a new generation
of high-tech scientists to incorporate cutting-edge technology into
radio frequency electronics. Over the past six years, Oakland researchers
have completed work that has led to the acquisition of four patents
on miniature sensor and signal processing technologies. Likely applications
of these advances include military systems, such as missile defense
and radar, unmanned aerial vehicles and soldier communications; and
consumer electronics including mobile wireless systems, multifunction
vehicle antennas, cell phones, GPS systems and handheld computers. More.
Ann
Arbor's Llamasoft opens German office Llamasoft Inc., the Ann Arbor provider of
supply chain network design software, Saturday announced the opening
of an office in Germany to support growing European market demand. The
company’s new office, located in Munich, will address the needs
of global clients whose supply chain strategic planning activities are
located in the region. “We
continue to see growth globally for supply chain network modeling and
analysis tools,” said Llamasoft president Don Hicks. “Challenging
economic conditions, volatile fuel costs, and supplier uncertainty are
just a few issues that are forcing global companies to rethink their
supply chain strategies, and Llamasoft’s technology has been a
key tool to enable this analysis effort." More.
RazorThreat
puts its security product online as a service Pontiac-based RazorThreat, creator of the
leading edge threat information and risk management software Threat
Analysis Console, announced last week that they are now offering TAC
as a managed service. The
company said the move should help companies, universities and government
agencies weather the current economic storm without exposing sensitive
information to undue risk of being compromised. More.
Bonal International
ekes out profit on tumbling sales Royal Oak-based Bonal International
Inc. last week announced consolidated financial results for the fiscal
year ended March 31. Despite the challenging economic times in the manufacturing
sector, Bonal announced modest net income. In the fiscal year ended
March 31, Bonal posted net sales of $1,696,878 compared to $2,545,923
in 2008. Net income after tax is $30,109 and earnings per share of one
cent, $523,168 or 31 cents a share last year. Fourth quarter revenue
for Bonal International was $332,618, down from $747,917 a year earlier.
The company posted a loss of $24,178 or 1 cent a share in the quarter,
compared to net income of $134,976 or 8 cents a share a year earlier.
More.
Detroit
firm to make film fest carbon neutral Detroit-based Carbon Credit Environmental
Services said last week that it's partnering with the Detroit Windsor
International Film Festival to make the event "green" through
carbon offsetting. The festival
takes place Thursday, June 25 through Sunday, June 28, and is presented
by Wayne County and hosted by Wayne State University. This process will
be achieved by a greenhouse gas and carbon dioxide energy audit performed
by CCES, providing an estimate on how much CO2 will be emitted during
the event. More.
The Week Ahead: Tech scene offers lots of (renewable) energy
Uh, people? Remember how I always talk about the summer tech event slowdown?
Well,
I'm sure not seeing one so far. In fact, it looks as though the only
thing that can slow down the tech event train hereabouts is the Independence
Day holiday weekend next week. The evidence is in the 19 events this
week on the Michigan IT Calendar, the state's most comprehensive tech
calendar,
at this link. (That's a May or September weekly total, people!)
It gets busy Tuesday. Headlining the day: a WWJ Newsradio 950 - iDashboards "Laptop Lunch" on social networking for business featuring expert commentary for three speakers.
Check it out here.
But to be fair there's plenty else that day too, from a Web 2.0 for nonprofits seminar in Flint, to an Internet marketing basics event in Troy, to a Deal Gateway event in Birmingham to the EcoTuesday
Detroit monthly get-together in Dearborn.
Things stay busy Wednesday, with a new networking group called 'Startup Drinks' kicking off in Detroit. Thursday, it's an Israeli tech conference at Automation Alley, a Michigan Small Business
and Technology Development Center financial tools workshop in Livonia, a virtualization seminar at Merit Network Inc. in Ann Arbor, and more.
And if you're into renewable energy I'll plan on seeing you this weekend in Onekama on the beautiful Lake Michigan coast. The Great Lakes Renewable Energy Association is sponsoring its fourth
annual Michigan Energy Fair at the Manistee County Fairgrounds Friday through Sunday.
See you out there -- or in this case,
up there!
Note: For information on how you can sponsor content in the Blue Box, contact Jeff Lasser at (248) 455-7319 or
jeff.lasser@cbsradio.com
WWJ, GLITR
hosting 'Laptop Lunch' on social marketing Don't forget that WWJ Newsradio 950 and
your Great Lakes IT Report will be hosting the next in its "Laptop
Lunch Social Networking Series" Tuesday. I'll be hosting the event,
with expert commentary and
strategy from Brandon Chesnutt of Identity PR; Dave Wroblewski from
the Wireless Giant BlackBerry Store, who will discuss using social networking
apps on BlackBerries and other smartphones; and Adrienne Lenhoff, president
of Buzzphoria and Shazaaam. The event will run from noon to 1:30 p.m.
at Mr. B's, 215 S Main St., Royal Oak. The cost of $25 at the door includes
lunch. The sponsor is iDashboards. More.
UM researcher,
colleagues predict big Gulf 'dead zone' this summer
University of Michigan aquatic ecologist Donald
Scavia and his colleagues say this year's Gulf of Mexico "dead
zone" could be one of the largest on record, continuing a decades-long
trend that threatens the health of a half-billion-dollar fishery. The
Gulf dead zone forms each spring and summer off the Louisiana and Texas
coast when oxygen levels drop too low to support most life in bottom
and near-bottom waters. Farmland runoff containing fertilizers and livestock
waste -- some of it from as far away as the Corn Belt -- is the main
source of the nitrogen and phosphorus that cause the Gulf of Mexico
dead zone. More.
New
Web site debuts for dating, friendship for deaf, disabled A new Web site for the disabled,
deaf and hard of hearing has been developed by a Detroit-area entrepreneur
and partners. It's called www.listening4love.com. Richard Marciniak,
who has been working on the site, said he had assistance from colleagues
and the Web site deaf.com. More.
THE WORLD IN TECH
FTC plans
to monitor blogs for claims, payments Savvy consumers often go
online for independent consumer reviews of products and services, scouring
through comments from everyday Joes and Janes to help them find a gem
or shun a lemon. What some fail to realize, though, is that such reviews
can be tainted: Many bloggers have accepted perks such as free laptops,
trips to Europe, $500 gift cards or even thousands of dollars for a
200-word post. Bloggers vary in how they disclose such freebies, if
they do so at all. The practice has grown to the degree that the Federal
Trade Commission is paying attention. New guidelines, expected to be
approved late this summer with possible modifications, would clarify
that the agency can go after bloggers -- as well as the companies that
compensate them -- for any false claims or failure to disclose conflicts
of interest. More.
Apple
fans are prepared for a part-time Jobs Five and
a half months ago, word that Steve Jobs would only work part-time as
he recovered from a liver transplant would have sent investors into
a selling frenzy, so closely linked was Apple's charismatic co-founder
and CEO to the company's success. But now, with Jobs' return to Apple
just days away that prospect is a lot less daunting. Wall Street has
grappled with the implications of Jobs' illness since August 2004, when
investors learned the CEO had kept a cancer diagnosis secret until after
he underwent surgery. More.
(And more about his liver
transplant.)
Web
support pours out for Iran protestors
Google and Facebook have rushed out services
in Farsi. Twitter users have changed their home cities to Tehran to
provide cover for Internet users there. Others have configured their
computers to serve as relay points to bypass Iranian censorship. In
the aftermath of the disputed Iranian election, Internet companies and
individuals around the world have stepped in to help Iranians communicate
and organize. Twitter delayed a scheduled maintenance shutdown so that
people could continue to access the microblogging site while scores
of Americans set up remote proxy servers so Iranians could access blocked
Web sites from inside their country. All week, Internet users in the
U.S. and around the world fixed their eyes on the events unfolding in
Iran, the way viewers might have been glued to their television sets
30 years ago. But unlike 30, or even five years ago, this time they
could participate. More.
Redbox's
machines taking on Netflix's red envelopes With
more subscribers than ever flocking to its DVD-by-mail service, Netflix
Inc. is one of the few companies to prosper during the worst U.S. recession
in 70 years. Yet Netflix CEO Reed Hastings still has something to worry
about: an even cheaper DVD rental service run by one of his former lieutenants.
Once just an incongruous experiment amid the burgers and fries at McDonald's
restaurants, Redbox has emerged as the largest operator of DVD-rental
kiosks, with more than 15,400 vending machines set up to dispense $1-per-day
discs in supermarkets and discount stores. More.
Stocks: Tech stocks gain, but Nasdaq still slips for the week Technology stocks closed trading Friday with notable gains, though shares of Research In Motion declined after
the company issued a forecast that disappointed some investors. The Nasdaq Composite Index (COMP)
rose 19.75 points or 1.1 percent to 1,827.47. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ($INDU) fell 15.87 points
or 0.2 percent, to 8,539.73. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index ($SOX) rose 3.2 points or 1.2 percent to 264.47. The Morgan
Stanley High Tech 35 Index (MSH) rose 4.34 points or 1 percent to 450.89. The NYSE Arca Pharmaceutical Index (DRG)
rose 1.21 points or 0.5 percent to 263.15. The NYSE Arca Biotech Index (BTK) rose 4.74 points or 0.7 percent to 679.07. Finally, the
Standard & Poor's 500 (SPX) rose 2.86 points or 0.3 percent to 921.23. The market was relatively quiet
Friday despite it being a "quadruple witching" day, as traders squared positions ahead of big data due next week. "You have the Federal Reserve meeting, Treasury auctions and some top tier economic reports, including home sales and personal spending and income,
that will help validate or nullify the idea that the economy is recovering," said Kent Engelke, chief economic strategist at Capitol Securities Management.
All contents copyright 2009 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS Radio & Eye logo trademarked and copyright 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. Written and edited
by Matt Roush, Technology Editor, WWJ Newsradio 950, Detroit. GLITR may contain material from the Associated Press, CNET, News.com, MarketWatch.com or Reuters, used by permission. For coverage comments or news tips, e-mail Matt Roush at
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The Week Ahead: Tech scene offers lots of (renewable) energy
