Smartphones become pocket labs

 

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That universal device that is the smartphone continues to surprise us with new ways its sensors, processing power and connectedness can be deployed.

A new accessory for the data hungry, (paranoid) health conscious consumer is the Lapka, which Springwise calls:

an aesthetically pleasing and scientifically accurate personal environment monitor, consisting of white plastic sensors and an app that presents the data in a visual and easy-to-understand way.

The Lapka device and accompanying app will variously fill you in on:

  • The amount of nitrates in your food or drink (showing how “organic” it is)
  • The amount of radiation in your environment
  • Electromagnetic fields caused by electronic devices
  • Temperature and humidity

The fog of revolution: social media trends 2006 & 2012

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Thanks to the brevity and immediacy of Twitter I have already Tweeted saying everyone needs to read the sources of inspiration for this post. So you’ll forgive me for opening with some tangentilish thoughts…

Or maybe you won’t.

One of my favourite observations about change and the web is what I call “the fog of revolution”, a phrase that became very popular last year in a different context. When you’re in the middle of a revolution it is very hard to know what’s going on, not least when there are so many voices close by telling you exactly what is going on, and generally being very wrong.