Fungible Convictions

Every Friday afternoon, the MIT News Office sends out clippings of MIT mentions in the press. Bear in mind, the following list is totally average for a single week at MIT…

MIT IN THE NEWS

TOP COVERAGE   Japan reactor core may be leaking radioactive material, official says Anderson Cooper 360 – CNN Blogs | March 25, 2011 MIT’s Ian Hutchinson is quoted in an article about “of a likely breach in the all-important containment vessel of the No. 3 reactor at the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, a potentially ominous development in the race to prevent a large-scale release of radiation.” This article ran in multiple outlets. [Read More] Equity rising at MIT BioPortfolio | March 31, 2011 This clip links directly to the original piece at Nature, which briefly discusses increasing gender equity at MIT. [Read More] Baseball Set for Data Deluge as Player Monitoring Goes Hi-Tech Bloomberg | March 31, 2011 “On a Saturday morning in March, some 400 people crowd a conference room at the Boston Convention Center. Mostly men, and mostly paying customers, they are there to listen to six other guys talk about baseball statistics. It’s day two of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, an annual gathering dubbed “Dorkapalooza” by ESPN’s Bill Simmons. The buzz from the panel is about something called Fieldf/x, Bloomberg Businessweek reports in its April 4 issue.” This article discusses Fieldf/x; MIT is only mentioned as the forum. [Read More] One more thing on Red Sox’ side: Math Boston.com | April 01, 2011 MIT professor Dimitris Bertsimas applies sports analytics to baseball. [Read More] US will offer $1,000 patents to spur job growth Boston.com | March 29, 2011 “Energy Secretary Steven Chu… and several Obama administration officials visited MIT yesterday to meet with business leaders about revamping federal policies to support innovation.” [Read More] Struggling Somerville biotech seeks Ch. 7 liquidation Boston.com | March 28, 2011 “Peptimmune licensed some of its core technology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which the biotech owes $22,118 related to a licensing agreement, according to the Chapter 7 filing.” [Read More] A squeeze, a squeak, a glimpse of learning Boston.com | March 28, 2011 Research on teaching and learning by MIT professor Laura Schulz and colleagues is highlighted. [Read More] And the band is set to play on after students’ efforts for Kendall Station Boston.com | March 27, 2011 “After a year of tinkering and toiling at MIT’s Rapid Fabrication Laboratory, the students in the Kendall Band Preservation Society will begin reassembling the restored pieces of the celebrated musical sculpture at Kendall Station over the next few weeks…The largest element of the sound sculpture should be up and working by April 30, when a celebration will be held at the station as part of a campus-wide open house celebrating MIT’s 150th birthday.” [Read More] An energy program too efficient for its own good Boston.com | March 26, 2011 “David Koch doesn’t know it, but the advanced energy-saving technologies used in the new $211 million cancer research lab that bears his name at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology were funded in part through a government program to reduce global warming pollution. It is the same program under heavy attack by one of Koch’s biggest political beneficiaries, the group Americans for Prosperity.” [Read More] MIT prof says FBI’s mystery code will be hard to break Boston Globe Blogs | April 01, 2011 “An MIT professor (Regina Barzilay) who has done research on translating ancient texts says it will be difficult to crack the coded messages found in a Missouri murder victim’s pocket that the FBI has sought the public’s help in deciphering.” [Read More] Dr. Frank McClintock, 90; MIT metallurgist, mountaineer – The Boston Globe Boston Globe Blogs | March 31, 2011 This obituary remembers former MIT metallurgist Frank McClintock. [Read More] Retiree expenses constrain colleges – The Boston Globe Boston Globe Blogs | March 28, 2011 MIT’s vice president for finance, Israel Ruiz is quoted in an article about how universities are managing pensions and health benefits for employees. [Read More] Quake policies pushed in Bay State Boston Herald (AP) | March 30, 2011 MIT’s Michael Braun (of Sloan) is quoted in an article about the effects of the tragedy in Japan on earthquake insurance policies in Massachusetts. [Read More] Ex-State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley stands by criticism of Bradley Manning’s treatment CBS News | March 29, 2011 A presentation at MIT is noted as the forum at which PJ Crowley made statements that ultimately led to his resignation. [Read More] Breakthrough reported making hydrogen from solar cell CBS News | March 28, 2011 “Drawing from nature, Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Daniel Nocera thinks he can draw cheap and clean energy from water.” This article originated with CNET. [Read More] Workers scramble to contain radioactive water at nuclear plant CNN | March 29, 2011 MIT’s Jim Walsh is quoted in an article about activity in Japan attempting to contain radioactive water at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. [Read More] Fukushima shines light on U.S. problem: 63,000 tons of spent fuel CNN.com International | March 30, 2011 MITEI director Ernest Moniz is quoted in an article about the United States’ nuclear waste storage policies. [Read More] Embattled Japanese power company chief hospitalized due to ‘fatigue’ CNN.com International | March 30, 2011 MIT’s Jim Walsh is quoted in an article about the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan. [Read More] Where is ‘Sign Board Guy’ now? Still for hire CNN Money | April 01, 2011 This piece updates readers on the life of a man who promoted himself while job searching by wearing a sign that said “Experienced MIT Grad for Hire.” [Read More] Foreign aid: Anti-malaria bed nets v F-35s Current | March 26, 2011 “The conclusion of the M.I.T. study was clear: ‘Free (bed net) distribution is both more effective and more cost-effective than cost-sharing.’” [Read More] Republicans Get Inconvenient Replies at Climate Hearing Dot Earth Blog – NYTimes.com | March 31, 2011 MIT’s Kerry Emanuel, one of three scientists on a panel at a climate hearing on 3/30/11, is quoted. [Read More] Ethical Engineering- No Oxymoron Dot Earth Blog – NYTimes.com | March 30, 2011 MIT’s International Development Design Summit is presented as an example of ethical engineering. The article contains links to information about the summit. [Read More] Technolog y has potential to retrofit the world Financial Times Print Edition (Europe) | March 29, 2011 The Copenhagen Wheel, developed by SENSEable City at MIT, is presented as one of a few examples “of how technology is providing information that can help us reduce our impact on the planet.” Financial Times is a subscription-only publication. For the full article, please email cmccall5@mit.edu. [Read More] One Per Cent New Scientist | March 30, 2011 MIT’s Daniel Nocera and his artificial leaf are briefly discussed. For the full article, please email cmccall5@mit.edu. [Read More] Hardware-only add-on lets phones shoot video in 3D New Scientist – News | April 01, 2011 MIT’s Douglas Lanman is quoted in an article about a device “being developed in China that will allow regular cellphones to capture and process 3D photos and videos.” [Read More] Store data in your body without cyborg modification New Scientist – News | March 31, 2011 MIT researcher Pranav Mistry has designed a system of information storage and transfer in which “‘the user touches a data item they wish to copy from a device, conceptually saving it in the user’s body…Next, the user touches the other device to which they want to paste the saved content.’” [Read More] Antitrust Cry From Microsoft Post-Gazette.com | April 01, 2011 This clip reprints the original New York Times piece. MIT professor Michael Cusumano is quoted in the article, which discusses Microsoft’s antitrust lawsuit against Google. [Read More] MIT professor picks Red Sox over rival Yankees in 2011 Reuters Canada | April 01, 2011 “Dimitris Bertsimas of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology used quantitative models based on player analytics to predict the Red Sox will win 101 games this season, eight more than the Yankees.” This article ran in multiple outlets, including the New York Times. [Read More] Top Ten Cleantech Cities in the United States Reuters Top News | March 28, 2011 MIT is credited with contributing to the reasoning behind Boston’s designation as one of the top ten cleantech cities. The article ran in multiple locations. [Read More] “Artificial Leaf” Might Provide Easy, Mobile Energy Scientific American | March 29, 2011 Researchers, led by MIT’s Daniel Nocera, have created the first artificial leaf. [Read More] Artificial Leaf to Cheaply Provide Power For Developing World Slash Gear | March 28, 2011 This story about the first artificial leaf, created by MIT’s Daniel Nocera, ran originally at Wired UK. [Read More] The Choice: Stanford and Duke Accepted How Many? Colleges Report 2011 Admission Figures StsNews.com | March 30, 2011 This clip links directly to the original New York Times piece about universities’ 2011 admissions figures. [Read More] An Astronomer’s Legacy: the Discovery of the Rings of Uranus The Chronicle of Higher Education | March 27, 2011 This is an obituary for MIT professor James Elliot. [Read More] Billion Price Preview The Conscience of a Liberal – The New York Times | March 28, 2011 Paul Krugman states in his blog, “one indicator I’ve been tracking lately is the MIT Billion Price Index; it basically tracks the goods component of the CPI, but of course has higher frequency, so it’s kind of an early warning indicator.” [Read More] U.S. Response to Japan’s Crisis Should Be a New Spent Fuel Strategy, Senate Panel Is Told The New York Times | March 31, 2011 Statements made by MIT professor and director of MITEI Ernest Moniz at yesterday’s Senate subcommittee meeting are presented in discussion of US spent fuel policy. This story ran in multiple outlets, including Scientific American and originated with Climatewire. [Read More] Greenpeace – An Eye on the Carbon Footprint of the Cloud The New York Times | March 30, 2011 A statistic from MIT is mentioned in an article about a push for internet companies to reduce energy consumption. [Read More] Nuclear Waste Conundrum Top Concern for Senators The New York Times | March 30, 2011 MIT’s Ernest Moniz is quoted in an article about nuclear power and nuclear waste. The article originated with Reuters. [Read More] China Hedges Over Whether South China Sea Is a ‘Core Interest’ Worth War The New York Times | March 30, 2011 MIT professor M. Taylor Fravel is quoted in an article about foreign policy and the South China Sea. [Read More] As Algae Bloom Fades, Photosynthesis Hopes Still Shine The New York Times | March 29, 2011 Work done at MIT, as well as that of a spinoff, in terms of the history and future of cyanobacteria and algae, is discussed. [Read More] M.I.T. Teams With Malaysia to Offer Economics Degree The New York Times | March 28, 2011 “The Malaysian government has announced a partnering with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to set up a new supply-chain education and research center in Shah Alam outside of Kuala Lumpur.” [Read More] Senators Press Regulator on Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel The Wall Street Journal (Asia) | March 30, 2011 MITEI director Ernest Moniz is quoted in an article about “the safety of storing used nuclear fuels in pools,” and a discussion of this topic at a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing this past week. [Read More] The Gas Dilemma Time | March 31, 2011 Visiting engineer at MITEI Tony Meggs is quoted in an article about natural gas. [Read More] Did you get in? It’s a busy time for Class of 2015 notifications Washington Post | March 28, 2011 “Decision day at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was set for Pi Day — since pi is equal to 3.1415926, the decisions were announced on 3/14 for the Class of 2015 at 9:26 p.m.” [Read More] Women Gain In Numbers On MIT Faculty, But Keep Striving WBUR 90.9 FM | March 28, 2011 MIT engineering professor Lorna Gibson discusses the school’s advancesin eliminating gender bias on WBUR’s ‘All Things Considered.’ [Read More] Using Nanotubes To Detect Damage To Composite Airplanes Wired | March 29, 2011 “MIT’s Brian Wardle and a team of researchers have developed a way of using heat-sensitive cameras to detect internal damage to composite structures (in airplanes).” [Read More] Artificial Leaf Could Be More Efficient Than the Real Thing Wired | March 29, 2011 “Speaking at the National Meeting of the American Chemical Society in California, MIT professor Daniel Nocera claims to have created an artificial leaf made from stable and inexpensive materials that mimics nature’s photosynthesis process.” [Read More] Catching Cancer Cells WSJ Blogs | March 31, 2011 This blog post briefly discusses that “Harvard and MIT scientists have developed a carbon nanotube device that could detect single cancer cells.” [Read More] Microsoft Sharpens Antitrust Attack Against Google WSJ Blogs | March 31, 2011 MIT professor Michael Cusumano is quoted in an article about Microsoft’s “formal complaint with European antitrust authorities that targets Google’s dominance of the Internet search market.” [Read More] OTHER COVERAGE   Anybots taking over the workplace 14 WFIE | March 28, 2011 “MIT researchers are working on a very early version of intelligent, robotic helpers: a humanoid called Domo, who can grasp objects and place them on shelves or counters.” This article ran in multiple outlets. [Read More] MEDA SOLU : Medidata Solutions Database Tools to Be Used in National Bureau of Economic Research Study That Examines Clinical Trial Costs 4-Traders | March 30, 2011 “Medidata Solutions, a leading global provider of SaaS-based clinical development solutions, announced that a National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) research project will use industry benchmark cost data from Medidata Grants Manager® and Medidata CRO Contractor® to investigate the major causes of increasing drug development costs. MIT’s Ernst Berndt is among the study’s leaders. [Read More] DoE launches ‘America’s Next Top Energy Innovator’ challenge at MIT forum AllVoices | March 30, 2011 “The U.S. Department of Energy has announced a new national program dubbed ‘America’s Next Top Energy Innovator’ challenge that is intended to boost innovation in the field of clean energy by incentivizing startup energy companies. The program was launched at a forum held at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.” This clip links directly to the original article at International Business Times. [Read More] Trace Amount of Radiation Found in Massachusetts Rainwater AOL News | March 28, 2011 MIT professor Ron Ballinger is quoted in an article about small amounts of radiation in Massachusetts rainwater. [Read More] Drivers As Good As Their Vision Auto Observer | March 31, 2011 Work by MIT AgeLab’s Bryan Reimer is featured in an article about driver safety. [Read More] Armenian Daron Acemoglu to be Turkey’s new ambassador to France Azeri-Press Information Agency | March 29, 2011 “The person who will be appointed as ambassador to France, is Turkish scientist of Armenian origin, world-famous (MIT) economist Daron Acemoglu.” [Read More] Russian Organizations Open Skolkovo’s American Office in Silicon Valley Azonano.com | March 30, 2011 “Several Russian high-tech development institutions like Boeing, Cisco, Intel, Microsoft, MIT joined hands in opening the American office of Skolkovo Innovation Center (Skolkovo) in Silicon Valley as well as OAO ROSNANO and the Russian Venture Company (RVC).” [Read More] App Developers = Tomorrow’s Rock Stars Billboard.com | March 31, 2011 MIT is named as one of “5 Places Where You Can Learn To Be An App Expert” in an article about app development. A brief description of why MIT was chosen is included. [Read More] Porous nanotube ‘forests’ catch cancer cells BioPortfolio | March 28, 2011 “Researchers from Harvard and MIT have designed a microfluidic device that uses porous “forests” of carbon nanotubes to detect individual cancer cells or viruses such as HIV in a blood sample.” This clip links to the original story at CNET. [Read More] New Harvard-MIT device to detect single cancer cells BioPortfolio | March 28, 2011 “A new device that can detect single cancer cells in blood, potentially telling doctors if cancer has spread, has been developed jointly by professors at Harvard Medical School and MIT.” This clip links to the original story at Mass High Tech. [Read More] Government Policies and Actions that Are Impediments to Job Creation Center for American Progress Action Fund | March 30, 2011 Findings by MIT economist Jon Gruber are referenced in Senior Economist with the Center for American Progress Action Fund Heather Boushey’s testimony before the House Committee on Ways and Means, in which she testifies “on government policies and actions that are impediments to job creation.” [Read More] Rigging Cross-Metathesis Chemical and Engineering News | March 27, 2011 Research by MIT chemistry professor Richard R. Schrock is discussed. [Read More] Cue the robots – opera for the digital era arrives at COT Chicago Tribune | March 27, 2011 This article discusses ‘Death and the Powers,’ the robot opera by MIT’s Tod Machover. [Read More] How dangerous is nuclear power? Three lessons from Japan. Christian Science Monitor (AP) | March 29, 2011 MIT’s Michael Golay is quoted in an article about the nuclear situation in Japan. [Read More] New solar device can be made of low-cost materials Clean Energy Authority | March 31, 2011 “Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has resulted in the development of an artificial leaf that mimics photosynthesis, which converts sunlight and water into usable energy.” [Read More] Fooled you! Wary society may be losing gift of great practical jokes Courier-Journal (AP) | April 01, 2011 MIT’s “hacks” are pointed to as examples of impressive gags in an article about practical jokes. [Read More] The science of identifying genders CPI Financial | March 31, 2011 “Neuroscientists at MIT and Harvard have made the surprising discovery that the brain sees some faces as male when they appear in one area of a person’s field of view, but female when they appear in a different location.” [Read More] Catching Cancer with Carbon Nanotubes, Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Reveal Device Space | March 28, 2011 “A Harvard bioengineer and an MIT aeronautical engineer have created a new device that can detect single cancer cells in a blood sample, potentially allowing doctors to quickly determine whether cancer has spread from its original site.” [Read More] Space Forensics Might Point to a Martian Ancestry Discovery News | March 26, 2011 “A team of researchers at MIT is proposing to apply forensic science testing on the Martian surface. Specifically, the task would be to do DNA and RNA sequencing on Martian microbes (if they exist) to seen if they share a common genetic origin with us.” [Read More] A.I. Artificial Intelligence (Blu-ray) DVD Town | March 28, 2011 A 2001 quote fromBrian Scassellati, “who led the Cog robot project at MIT’s Artificial Intelligence Lab” is presented in an article about science, science fiction, and artificial intelligence. [Read More] Orange Park Toyota Drivers Mean, Lean And Green eArticlesOnline | March 30, 2011 MITEI research is discussed in an article about electronic vehicles and hybrids and the eco-friendliness and energy-efficiency of both types of vehicles. [Read More] 10 college admissions trends eCampus News | March 30, 2011 Ten trends in college admissions are discussed, and MIT is mentioned. The clip links to the original article at Yahoo News. [Read More] Thoughts on the Failure of Merit Pay Education Week – Blogs | March 29, 2011 “(MIT economist) Dan Ariely’s ‘Predictably Irrational’ explains why money is not as good a motivator as a sense of purpose.” [Read More] Microfluidics detects cancer with nanotubes EE Times | March 29, 2011 “The MIT/Harvard microfluidic detectors will flow blood samples through a field of up to 100 billion carbon nanotubes, enabling it to trap suspect cells of nearly any size—from micron-sized cancer cells to tiny viruses.” [Read More] US experts unsure about Fukushima situation Emirates24|7 | March 27, 2011 “Ian Hutchison, professor of nuclear science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said that radioactivity in the water around the plant was not necessarily surprising given the amount of water sprayed onto and pumped into the reactors.” [Read More] ‘Artificial leaf’ makes hydrogen from solar cell Enterprise Post News | March 28, 2011 “MIT professor (Daniel Nocera) who co-founded Sun Catalytix shows off research that aims to use a solar cell to directly split hydrogen from water, a system which could be used for cheap, clean, distributed energy systems.” This clip links to the full original article at CNET. [Read More] Tata signs up MIT energy guru for power from water Fuel Cell Works | March 28, 2011 “In the first such effort, Tata group chairman Ratan Tata has signed on a leading scientist from the globally renowned Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to commercialize cutting-edge research that promises to produce cheap power from water.” This article originated with Hindustan Times. [Read More] ‘RomneyCare’ Facts and Falsehoods (via FactCheck.org) Gather | March 31, 2011 MIT economist Jonathan Gruber, is featured in an article reviewing Massachusetts’ health care law. [Read More] University of Utah Researcher Denied Inventorship on Tuschl-II IP, Lawsuit Claims GenomeWeb | March 29, 2011 A law suit names MIT’s Whitehead Institute among its defendents. The suit claims that “inventors of the so-called Tuschl-II patent family allegedly co-opted the RNAi-related discoveries of University of Utah researcher Brenda Bass and incorporated them into the intellectual property without acknowledging her work.” [Read More] Guest Post: Scare Tactics and Natural Gas Greentech Media | March 30, 2011 MIT’s Bill Aulet serves as a “guest blogger” and discusses natural gas and its potential risks and rewards. [Read More] Cap+Trade Pays for David Koch’s Fossil Fuel Reduction International Business Times UK | March 29, 2011 “MIT‘s newly inaugurated David H Koch Institute is expected to save 30% in energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions.” This article ran in multiple outlets. [Read More] Combating Poverty With ‘Poor Economics’ Inter Press Service | March 31, 2011 This piece discusses work by MIT economist Esther Duflo that “uses randomized field experiments to identify highly specific programmes that can alleviate poverty, ranging from low-cost medical treatments to innovative education programmes,” as well as Duflo’s biography and new book. [Read More] Cambridge forum introduces university research to Boston investors Mass High Tech | March 30, 2011 “The fourth annual University Research & Entrepreneurship Symposium is an invitation-only event at the Charles Hotel that will bring together 300 venture capitalists, angel investors and entrepreneurs for presentations by university research teams and spinoffs (including teams from MIT).” [Read More] Boston-area colleges expand cleantech entrepreneurship programs Mass High Tech | March 30, 2011 The Clean Energy Ventures program at MIT is noted as one of several such programs in Boston with “the goal of getting executives and professionals up to speed on the cleantech industry.” [Read More] U.S. energy future hazy on Japan, environment fears Mother Nature Network | March 31, 2011 “Ernest Moniz, head of the Energy Initiative of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a member of the president’s science advisory council, said that even though natural gas appears to be more economical, a national energy strategy should not rely on a single source.” [Read More] Uptick seen in iodine sales around Poconos MSG | March 30, 2011 “According to Ronald Ballinger, a professor of nuclear science and engineering at MIT, people in Pennsylvania don’t have to worry about the fallout from Japan.” This clip links directly to the full article at Pocono Record. [Read More] Appeal of Small Reactors May Grow Following Fukushima Accident NEI Nuclear Notes | March 31, 2011 MITEI director Ernest Moniz is quoted at length in an article about the appeal of small, scalable nuclear reactors. [Read More] Best Colleges for Communications Newsmax | March 31, 2011 MIT is named as one of the top five schools at which to secure a communications degree. [Read More] Best Colleges for Math Newsmax | March 31, 2011 MIT is named the top school from which to earn a degree in math. [Read More] These robots do more than tricks NJ.com | March 27, 2011 This piece features MIT’s Cynthia Breazeal and her research with robots. [Read More] Physicists put a new twist on graphene Physicsworld.com | March 31, 2011 This article discusses innovative work with graphene and includes a summary of research by a team that includes members of MIT. [Read More] News in Brief: 2011 American Physical Society meeting Science News | March 30, 2011 MIT engineer Tomas Palacios “wired up his transistor to create the first-ever graphene electrical oscillator, a simple circuit useful in building flexible electronics tough enough and cheap enough to be embedded in everyday objects.” [Read More] What’s on the Table for GE SeekingAlpha Media Stocks [Blog] | March 31, 2011 “Susan Hockfield, President of MIT, has six nonprofit board obligations.” This article discusses GE’s shareowner proposals. [Read More] Shaken to the Core Slate Magazine | April 01, 2011 MITEI director Ernest Moniz is quoted in an article about the recent Senate subcommittee meeting about the nuclear crisis in Japan. [Read More] MIT builds oil-eating, nanotech to absorb spills Techworld | March 30, 2011 “MIT researchers have used nanotechnology to develop a robot that can autonomously navigate across the surface of the ocean to clean up an oil spill.” [Read More] Detecting cancer, HIV with carbon nanotubes TG Daily | March 29, 2011 “Engineers (from Harvard and MIT) have developed a device that can detect single cancer cells in a blood sample.” [Read More] Feinstein questions U.S. nuke fuel safety amid Japanese crisis The Hill | March 30, 2011 MITEI director Ernest Moniz is quoted in an article about Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s concern over U.S. practices for storing used nuclear fuel. [Read More] Richard Leacock: Documentary film-maker regarded as the godfather of ‘Direct Cinema’ The Independent | April 01, 2011 This obituary remembers MIT’s Richard Leacock. [Read More] Researchers use Kinect to create autonomous Quadrotor system Topix | March 30, 2011 “Researchers at MIT, the University of Washington: Peter Henry, Mike Krainin, and Intel Labs Seattle have used Microsoft’s Kinect motion controller to turn a Quadrotor system (sort of a mini four prop helicopter) into an autonomous robotic device.” This clip links to the Examiner post with video and images from the related MIT website. [Read More] MIT researcher shows how to measure emotions with technology (video) | VentureBeat Venture Beat | March 30, 2011 “Rosalind Picard, a researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Affective Computing Research Group, gave a speech at the Web 2.0 Expo show in San Francisco yesterday where she spelled out how it is possible to capture someone’s vital stats in real time to decipher his or her emotional state.” The clip contains video of her speach. [Read More] UniversityTickets Unveils Mobile Ticketing Solution Videobased Tutorials | March 31, 2011 This piece names MIT as a school participating in UniversityTickets’ new program that allows ticket purchasers to instantly download tickets to their phones and to display the phones when entering events at check-in. [Read More]

For my birthday, Linsday got us both tickets to an Irish whiskey tasting class at the Boston Center for Adult Education down on Arlington St. We went last night.

The instructor, Randall Bird, was pretty damn great. As I told him in the email below, he would have fit in perfectly at any hackin’-the-breeze conversation at MIT:

Dear Randall,

Lindsay and I just wanted to thank you for the great class last night (it was her birthday present to me in fact!).

The depth of your knowledge — particularly your interest in doing your own metalworking to go with your own distilling — reminded me of some colleagues at MIT…which is why I ended up asking about the source of [whiskey ingredient] supplies last night.

Guys at MIT created this tool called Sourcemap, which maps supply chains of consumer goods, and one of the first things they did with it was to go to brewers in the Scottish highlands and islands to show how setting up a local bottling cooperative was a better use of their money than shipping everything to England. Check out this video around the 5:00 mark to see what they mean:

It’s also interesting how open supply chains cut both ways…Diageo may want to obscure the fact that their grain comes from Argentina, but Office Depot just signed up to use Sourcemap to prove to buyers that their recycled paper really is 100% recycled.

Best, and thanks again for holding the class,

Andrew

Bird also just started announced whiskey/food pairing events at the Artistan’s Asylum, a studio/hackerspace in Somerville, with Monday 7-9pm being the first time I think. Lindsay and I definitely recommend it if you can make it Monday or sometime in the future.

Right around the 55:45 mark:

I’ve been there only the past two, but what an amazing ten years CMS has had. For the past few months, I’ve been putting together a history of the program, which is available at cms.mit.edu and on Scribd:

CMS 10th Anniversary

On Friday we held an all-day symposium, featuring about 40 alums, this year’s ten graduate students, and dozens of guests from around MIT. But the highlight by far was on Thursday, when we welcomed back former CMS director Henry Jenkins for a Communications Forum, where he spoke of a career at MIT. I happened to be sitting directly behind the Dean, who briefly shrank to almost nothing when Henry’s first words were, “I hate this fucking place!”, not realizing he was citing the old MIT student slogan (since adopted by other institutions, including the military service academies).

Video and audio of everything from the anniversary will be available next week, but for now enjoy Henry’s amazing talk: http://cms.mit.edu/news/2010/04/podcast_communications_forum_j.php

The wife is all excited because I just published a piece for PBS MediaShift’s Idea Lab blog about how really smart people, like Cliff Stoll, got the potential for internet-based news so wrong. I guess I’m excited too, except that because it’s such a challenge to get my busy colleagues to publish at Idea Lab like they’re obliged to, I know I’ll be the one volunteering to pick up the slack. (But that’s where good opportunities come from.) Funniest part about it–by virtue of working for the Center for Future Civic Media, I get to have “2007 Knight News Challenge Winner” below my name on the site.

Clifford Stoll Was Wrong, But Internet is Far From Perfect

The 1995 version of Cliff Stoll can take intellectual, if not actual, comfort in the fact that all of these new methods of access haven’t resulted in greater “source diversity” or better news comprehension. Americans haven’t increased the number of sources they routinely check — and yet they feel overwhelmed by those they do. The study found that:

Despite all of this online activity, the typical online news consumer routinely uses just a handful of news sites and does not have a particular favorite. And overall, Americans have mixed feelings about this “new” news environment. Over half (55%) say it is easier to keep up with news and information today than it was five years ago, but 70% feel the amount of news and information available from different sources is overwhelming.

In other words, rather than Stoll’s predicted “wasteland of unfiltered data,” the Internet today is more like the Big City, where residents can feel deeply connected to their neighbors, while at the same time being wary of ever asking “Who else is out there?” — because the answer is overwhelming.

Read the full post at PBS.org. Next up for that blog, I’m 99% sure, will be a post that cites the Southpark “Underpants Gnomes” episode. I’m sure they’ll ask me to stop after that.

The last week or so have been a set of downright pleasant days. Shall we count the ways:

• Baseball’s position players reported to spring training yesterday
• I exchanged awesome emails with the wife of the late jazz great Charles Mingus
• We caught my friend Walter‘s really excellent show at the Armory Cafe in Somerville
• We hung out with friends at Toad a couple nights later
• My wife gave me an early birthday present of a high-priced Invictus wristwatch bought for a preposterously low price
• And I wasn’t immediately shot down when I floated the idea of going to Chicago on the Center for Future Civic Media’s dime to present projects to high schoolers who happen to be students of one of my best friends

It’s like I’m Gatsby and life is a squirrel, and we’re just waiting for the right moment to attack and/or spoon each other.

It’s a lot better than the week or two prior, which was capped off by a scream from the bathroom as my wife accidentally discharged a loaded heart-shaped Valentine’s liquid soap:

Huge lists of resources

• 50 Useful Design Tools For Beautiful Web Typography
• 100 Free High-Quality XHTML/CSS Templates

Pure typographical tools

• Matrix of fonts bundled with Mac and Windows operating systems
• Typechart: “Lets you flip through, preview and compare web typography while retrieving the CSS”
• PXtoEM
• Em calculator
• CSSType
• Type matrix and code generator
• Typetester
• CSS Type Set

More general CSS tools

• Gridr Builderrr: Helps create versatile CSS for columns
• Grid Designer 2
• PSD2CSS: Converts a Photoshop layout into CSS—requires strict attention to its guidelines to work
• Layout Generators

Firefox plugins

• abcTajpu: Easy reference for special characters
• Web Developer: My all-time favorite tool, allows you live-tweak your CSS on your own site

Inspiration

• 12 Examples of Paragraph Typography
• Google: CSS Inspiration

Accessibility means being able to say, “Yes, everyone can access my content.” It not only has to do with users with visual disabilities but also with users whose needs we touched on above: those with small or huge screens, those who prefer a certain text size, etc.

Text size

Legibility: Your typography should be legible. That means body text that is generously-sized, line-height that strikes a balance between the length of the line (horizontal) and the length of the text (vertical), and a font-choice that has a bias towards a sans serif.

Accommodating resizing: Some users will want to resize your text, usually to make it larger. If you haven’t built your text blocks to handle resizing—if your text overruns, overlaps, or does nothing at all—you’re not doing right by your user.

So as we discussed above:

1. Set min and max widths for your divs, and try to set a comfortable measure, around 66 characters per line
2. Set your text styles to relative measures like ems or %
3. In your headers, pay attention to lesser-used CSS elements such as word-spacing in order to space things comfortably

Accommodating hard-copy printing: But don’t forget to create a separate print style sheet, one that, in contrast to your master style sheet, strictly sets the sizes for your text. When you create print.css, every text element should be sized in points (pt).

Color

You want to keep two things in mind when choosing a color for your typeface.

First, always have sufficient contrast. Black type on a white background is as contrasty as you can get, but while there’s no magic formula for measuring good contrast among the thousands of colors available, you can always print out your website (print the screen image, that is) on any black-and-white printer and see if it’s comfortable to read. W3.org suggests it this way:

To test whether color contrast is sufficient to be read by people with color deficiencies or by those with low resolution monitors, print pages on a black and white printer (with backgrounds and colors appearing in grayscale). Also try taking the printout and copying it for two or three generations to see how it degrades. This will show you where you need to add redundant cues (example: hyperlinks are usually underlined on Web pages), or whether the cues are too small or indistinct to hold up well.

Second, remember that all colors on a computer screen are being radiated. In print, black text absorbs light while the paper reflects it, but on a screen, every color is shooting photons at the user. And these colors are being radiated differently depending on the monitor. So a red background can not only be intense on the eyes but it might show up as orange or pink to some users depending on how their monitor is calibrated. So, remember that your dark gray text on a light blue background ultimately might not have enough contrast when it comes out of a monitor rendering them as medium gray text on a medium blue background.

Again, concentrate on the user’s needs—you can even go as far as to make a second stylesheet that the user can opt for, for example if you sense a 50/50 split among your users’ preferences for light text on a dark background vs. the opposite.

Colorblindness: Around 8% of the male population suffers from some level of color-blindness. (Through a genetic quirk, colorblindness is significantly lower among women). So when you choose colors for your type and background, consider using a tool like Adobe’s Color Scheme Designer, which has a feature to help you see what a colorblind user sees. While there’s no magic formula for what colors work best, you always want to know what your site would look like to someone who isn’t seeing it as intended.

Fluid width

We’ve talked this one to death, but to reiterate: different users have different screen sizes and different preferences for width. For your main blocks of text, always set a max and a min width, either in ems or &.

SIFr

One option I haven’t spoken about is SIFr (and similar options like FLIR and Typeface.js). For our purposes, they’re complicated to discuss, but here’s the background for SIFr and when you might use it.

SIFr stands for Scalable Inman Flash Replacement (Shaun Inman being the guy who came up with it), and it does what it says: it replaces each letter in a block of text with a Flash equivalent, using any typeface of the designer’s choosing. So if I have a heading that reads “Typography for the Web” but want it to be displayed with the typeface Meta, SIFr will use Flash to overlay the letters T, y, p, o and so on, in Meta, over top of those same letters in a traditional web-friendly typeface.

The benefits are twofold: you can use any typeface you want, and screenreaders (for blind users) and search engines can still read the content.

There are two drawbacks as well: it can be really difficult to implement, and because you’re using Flash or a script, it’s really only appropriate for headings—it would slow down the loading of body text to a point where the site is unpleasant to use.

Licensing

Lastly, I want to mention the licensing of typefaces. When I asked a group of typographers what they want people to know about type on the web, every one of them said—yelled, really—”Everyone needs to know that typefaces aren’t free!”

We’re accustomed to thinking type is free only because it comes pre-installed on our computers. And we at MIT are culturally accustomed to sharing everything. But Microsoft and Apple have in fact paid a lot of money to have those half a dozen basic types on your computers.

Typefaces can be downloaded just like music files can—both legally and illegally. So know that if you ever stray away from those basic typefaces and want to take advantage of something like SIFr, be sure you have some money budgeted to buy a license to use those new types or be sure are prepared to risk running afoul of the law.

References:
http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10-CSS-TECHS/
http://colorschemedesigner.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_blindness
http://veerle.duoh.com/blog/comments/my_view_on_light_text_on_dark_background_vs_readability/
http://www.mikeindustries.com/blog/sifr
http://www.fonts.com/

Donna loves what you did for her blog (see exercise #1). However, even though you went ahead with her request to use Verdana for the body text and even though her father says he can read it fine, Donna comes back to you with an issue:

A huge website linked to one of my posts, and I’ve been getting tons of emails from random readers essentially saying, “I love your content. I want to keep reading it, but, at least on my screen, it’s really hard to read.

With your partner, use everything you now know to discuss how you might:

1. Respond to these readers to probe their concerns
2. Use new CSS to address their concerns—without affecting Donna’s father’s reading experience

This is a depressingly short section. Why? Because despite the web’s having been around for two decades, we as website designers are still (practically speaking) limited to half a dozen “web-safe” typefaces supported by the majority of web browsers:

• Arial
• Comic Sans
• Courier New
• Georgia
• Times New Roman
• Trebuchet
• Verdana

You better have an ironic reason to ever use Comic Sans, which takes us down to five options.

It goes without saying that your typeface should reflect the style of your website. Trebuchet and Verdana might be good for more modern sites, while Georgia is good for text meant to look more conservative.

The key thing, though, is to collect some data on your users’ screen resolutions and colors. Serif fonts can be a strain on users’ eyes whose monitors can’t smoothly render small details like serifs. So if your website serves a large part of the general population—or, conversely, a large number of mobile users—consider sticking exclusively to sans serif fonts like Arial and Verdana for your body text.

Ironically, even as the average user’s monitor increases in resolution and number of colors it supports, the trend is also for users to have larger screens that display type even smaller, another argument in face of sans serif typefaces (as well as increased default text size).

You also want to keep in mind the concept of “graceful degradation”—meaning a website works even when a user doesn’t have everything needed for it to work as ideally intended (for example, when Javascript is turned off). Graceful degradation for fonts means understanding that different browsers handle different fonts differently, and thus you want/need some amount of control over that handling. The very basic example is the font-family statement:

So instead of:

h1 {
font: helvetica;
}

Use this instead:

h1 {
font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;
}

That way, if the user doesn’t have Helvetica, the browser will render the text as an alternative sans serif font, Arial. And if the user then also doesn’t have Arial, it will use any available sans serif on the user’s system. The text degrades, but gracefully.

So in short:

• Stick to the five typefaces that are common enough not to cause problems
• Keep Arial and Verdana in your head as your default for body text
• And write your font-family statements such that they degrade gracefully

Later, we’ll touch upon reasons and methods for using typefaces that aren’t one of those five—largely for headings.

References:
https://www.google.com/analytics/reporting/resolutions
http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_display.asp
http://www.theinternetdigest.net/archive/websafefonts.html