GLITR Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Your report for Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Linux Box celebrates 10th anniversary with new service offerings
The Linux Box, an Ann Arbor professional services organization specializing in open source technology, is marking its 10-year anniversary by adding custom software products to its suite of services. Founded in 1999, Linux Box is a software development consultancy that customizes open-source projects for blue chip clients such as McKesson, Harvard Management Co., Borders Group, FedEx and Answers.com. The Linux Box currently provides professional, commercial services for companies looking to gain competitive advantage, reduce IT costs and increase the control they have over their open source technologies. More.

ITC signs Green Power Express agreement
In the first of several anticipated strategic alliances, Novi-based ITC Holdings Corp. Tuesday announced it has entered into an agreement with Bismarck, N.D.-based MDU Resources Group Inc. to participate in ITC’s Green Power Express transmission project. The agreement represents another important milestone in ITC’s efforts to bring the Green Power Express project to fruition. The project aims to build power lines to transmit 12,000 megawatts of clean wind power from windy areas in the Upper Great Plains to Midwest and East Coast population centers. More.

Southfield firm's tech defends health care providers from RAC attack|
Amid the one-two punch of belt tightening, budget cuts and layoffs, healthcare institutions nationwide are about to feel the financial blow of the Medicare Recovery Audit Contractor. Southfield-based ImageSoft Inc. says it has technology to keep that blow from being a knockout. ImageSoft has introduced AccuRAC, technology to help healthcare organizations successfully manage the recovery audits and protect their financial assets. More.

Altair software used to design winning yacht
Troy-based Altair Engineering Inc., a provider of simulation technology and engineering services that empower client innovation and decision-making, announced today that its HyperWorks CAE platform has been used by ABstructures, an Italian structural design company, to structurally design and optimize the winning yacht in the Volvo Ocean Race, Ericsson 4. The yacht, skippered by Torben Grael, claimed victory in the Volvo Ocean Race on June 27 in St. Petersburg, Russia, after 8 months and more than 37,000 nautical miles sailed around the world under the harshest conditions. More.

Ann Arbor tech firm offers auto EDI 'bailout'
Ann Arbor-based iConnect Tuesday announced an "Automotive EDI Bailout," a free 12-month trial of its Value Added Network mailbox system for prospective automotive-oriented clients. Any company that does business in the automotive arena can apply for iConnect’s EDI Bailout program through the iConnect Web site at www.iConnect-corp.com. Companies that are selected will be able to exchange electronic documents such as purchase orders, invoices, shipping schedules and ASN’s electronically with its trading partners. More.

High-tech imaging reveals hidden past in ancient texts

It might simply look like a smudge, but even the slightest stain on the ancient writing surface of papyrus could obscure a revelation of a past civilization.

Now, with the advent of high-tech imaging, some of those secrets could reveal fascinating insights into everyday life of early Egyptian, Greek and Roman societies.

For the last four weeks, a team of national researchers and scholars examined dozens of papyri among the thousands of papyrological pieces in the University of Michigan collection. Using multi-spectral imaging, the Ancient Textual Imaging Group -- led by acclaimed papyrology expert Stephen Bay of Brigham Young University -- examined ancient text written on papyrus that had become illegible because they are stained, discolored and faded. Recording through a range of filters, the technology captures high-resolution color images, making clear the layers of text hidden beneath words and letters written on levels of papyrus.

The Ancient Textual Imaging Group, based at Brigham Young, is conducting a two-year venture to record illegible papyrus documents from historically significant U.S.-based collections. The project is supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Throughout July, scholars and students at the Papyrological Institute, hosted by UM, will examine the newly recorded images, aiming to piece together a picture of a world that until now has been hidden. Findings from the newly enhanced images of the papyri will be released as early as August.

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Beaumont Children's Hospital expands heart imaging
The Beaumont Children's Hospital Pediatric Subspecialty Clinic has added two new, state-of-the art echo machines, including 3-D echocardiogram technology. This will complement its digital lab and improve its ability to accommodate more families and their children for fast and convenient appointments. The test takes about 45-60 minutes and because of Beaumont's move to electronic medical records, the results are available to the referring physician by the next day. More.

Logic Systems named reseller of Oz shipping software
Ann Arbor-based Logic Systems Engineering, a consultant and provider of computerized shipping systems and subsidiary of Logic Solutions Inc., Tuesday announced that it had begun reselling shipping software from Westborough, Mass.-based Oz Development, an applications developer focused on the small-to-medium business market. More.

Polk launches system to identify clunkers worth cash
Southfield-based R. L. Polk & Co. said Tuesday it had developed a unique, highly accurate system for auto manufacturers and dealers to help them identify and target consumers eligible for the recently signed Consumer Assistance to Recycle and Save program, dubbed Cash for Clunkers. The government initiative allocates $1 billion in funding to encourage consumers to replace older, less fuel efficient vehicles with new fuel efficient ones. Polk's new custom system is a predictive model created by taking into account a vehicle's age, category, current market value and EPA combined fuel economy. It enables focused targeting of consumers most likely to qualify for the Cash for Clunkers program. More.

THE WORLD IN TECH

Internet radio says it can survive under royalty deal
The future of Internet radio appears more secure after a handful of online stations reached an agreement Tuesday to head off a potentially crippling increase in copyright royalty rates. The deal is the product of two years of negotiations between Webcasters and copyright holders. In March 2007, a ruling by the federal Copyright Royalty Board dramatically raised the rates that Internet radio stations must pay artists and recording labels -- leading many online radio stations to warn that the new rates would put them out of business by eating up as much as 70 percent of revenue. At least one popular online radio service -- Pandora Media of Oakland, Calif., which derives much of its revenue from advertising -- said the new agreement will help ensure its survival. More.

Internet playing key role in China's latest unrest
The brawl between Han Chinese and Uighurs in southern China was scarcely covered by state media, but accounts and photos spread quickly via the Internet and became a spark that helped ignite deadly riots thousands of miles away in the Uighur homeland. Even in tightly controlled China, relatively unfettered commentaries and images circulating on Web sites helped stir up tensions and rally people to join an initially peaceful protest in the Xinjiang region that spiraled into violence Sunday, leaving more than 150 people dead. In China, as in Iran and other hotspots, the Internet, social networking and micro-blogging are playing a central role in mobilizing people power -- and becoming contested ground as governments fight back. More.

Cardinals' LaRussa drops suit against Twitter
St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa has quietly dropped his lawsuit against the social networking site Twitter Inc. A one-paragraph statement filed June 26 with the U.S. District Court in San Francisco said La Russa had dropped all claims -- and that San Francisco-based Twitter did not compensate him in exchange. It also said he could not refile the same complaint. La Russa's lawsuit, originally filed in San Francisco Superior Court in May and transferred to federal court on June 5, alleged trademark infringement, "cybersquatting" and misappropriation of his name. La Russa said June 5 that he and Twitter had reached a settlement, with Twitter agreeing to pay legal fees and make a donation to his California-based Animal Rescue Foundation. But Twitter, in a blog posting, said there was no settlement. Stone later told The Associated Press in an e-mail that Twitter resolved the account impersonation in accordance with its terms of service. More.

Nielsen: Kids spending more time online
Young kids are getting online at a faster rate than their parents and older siblings. A new study from Nielsen Online found that nearly 16 million U.S. children ages 2 to 11 were online in May. They made up about 9.5 percent of Internet users. The youngest of the set -- 2, 3, and 4-year-olds -- probably aren't yet updating their Twitter accounts with 140-character messages, or posting quiz results to Facebook. Rather, they are sitting in a parent's lap in front of a computer, being exposed to the Internet that way, said Peter Grunwald, president of Grunwald Associates LLC, which specializes in researching kids and technology. More.

Stocks: Dismal employment numbers push markets lower
Falling oil prices are becoming another sign of investors' deflating hopes for a speedy economic recovery. Major stock indexes skidded 2 percent Tuesday as crude fell for the fifth straight day and the Dow Jones industrial average fell 161 points to its lowest close since late April. Lower oil prices can help the economy by reducing costs, but investors are looking to the latest slide as an unwelcome prediction that demand for energy and basic materials will remain weak as the recession lingers. Trading volume remained light amid a dearth of news about the economy this week and as investors await the beginning of the second-quarter earnings season, which starts Wednesday with Alcoa Inc. but won't pick up speed until next week. The Nasdaq Composite Index (COMP) lost 41.23 points or 2.3 percent to 1,746.17. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ($INDU) fell 161.27 points or 1.9 percent to 8,163.6. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index ($SOX) fell 7.51 points or 2.9 percent to 252.73. The Morgan Stanley High Tech 35 Index (MSH) fell 11.14 points or 2.5 percent to 429.85. The NYSE Arca Pharmaceutical Index (DRG) fell 2.39 points or 0.9 percent to 257.66. The NYSE Arca Biotech Index (BTK) fell 13.26 points or 2 percent to 646.13. Finally, the Standard & Poor's 500 (SPX) fell 17.69 points or 2 percent to 881.03.

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