Article: How sleeping 6 times a day helped the founder of WordPress build a billion-dollar company

Matt Mullenweg's WordPress content management platform is one of the most influential pieces of software on the Internet, running more than 19 percent of websites (including VentureBeat). But before Automattic, the parent company of WordPress, was on the path to being a billion-dollar company, Mu...

http://venturebeat.com/2015/02/11/how-sleeping-6-times-a-day-helped-the-founder-of-wordpress-build-a-billion-dollar-company/

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Article: King of Thieves, the addictive new game from the makers of Cut the Rope

I'm not what you would consider a "gamer." I dabble in mobile titles like Monument Valley and occasionally play Super Smash Bros. or Mario Kart with friends, but few games manage to grab my attention for very long. Yet there's a new iPhone game I haven't been able to put down for the past two wee...

http://www.cultofmac.com/311929/king-thieves-addictive-new-game-makers-cut-rope/

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Article: Ikea-style game inspired by flat-pack furniture

To build your dream home, you have to live through the nightmare of constructing flat-pack furniture. That is the sad truth now acknowledged by many. But for one group of American students, this was also the realisation that led to a video game that has generated a lot of buzz. Home Improvisation...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-31133955

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drag2share: Police are using software to predict where crime will happen

source: http://www.engadget.com/2015/02/11/predictive-policing/?utm_source=Feed_Classic_Full&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Engadget&?ncid=rss_full

Police are unlikely to ever have a Minority Report-like ability to get inside would-be criminals' heads, but they may already have the next-best thing. Developers like PredPol are offering "predictive policing" software that tells cops where and when crimes are likely to happen based on the location, the nature of the crime and the time of day. The software knows that there's a good chance that a burglary or gang slaying will lead to similar activity in a given area, or that you'll see drunken fights outside of a dive bar in the early morning. Theoretically, police just have to patrol these areas more often to stop crime before it starts.

There are some signs that the strategy may be working; as Forbes notes, early results in cities like Atlanta, Los Angeles and Santa Cruz saw both reduced crime rates and better prediction compared to conventional analysts. However, the jury's still out. Without more extensive studies, it's hard to know whether the drops are directly related to predictive software or can be chalked up to other factors, such as crooks moving to other areas. Also, the tools could tempt police departments into leaning too much on code instead of understanding neighborhoods and tackling deep-seated problems. If the software is both proven effective and used wisely, though, it could cut back on unnecessary tragedies and familiarize rookie cops with known trouble spots.

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Samsung expands the search for its next hit product with 'innovation team'

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2015/02/10/samsung-expands-its-search-for-the-next-big-thing/

Virtual reality, drones, 3D printing, robotic telepresence and self-driving cars. A nice selection for tech buzzword bingo, but also just some of the things that Samsung's new product innovation team is already tackling in a bid to come up with the next (big-selling) thing -- its next Galaxy. "Samsung's previous success was mostly due to releasing products that are competitive in pricing. This is an old business formula...": said one official, unsurprisingly not named in the Korea Times report. And while, barring an initial foray into VR, these could all be very new business avenues for Samsung.

It all sounds a little bit Google, in the good kind of way, and at least a more interesting approach than wave after wave of iterative smartphones, tablets... and wearables. The company is looking to make up for the severe dip in smartphone sales it's experienced recently -- another successful product line could pick up that slack, especially if it ties into its profitable component business. While this new innovation team will apparently have no direct links from the corporate beast that is Samsung Electronics, however it'll still be headed up by the company's head of mobile, JK Shin, so read into that what you will.

"The main purpose of the team isn't to develop single devices for any imminent results, but to develop solutions to go with Samsung's manufacturing capabilities," said another Samsung spokesperson, adding that the team would pull technicians, strategists and product managers in from the company.

Filed under: Cellphones, Displays, Transportation, Wearables, Science, Samsung

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Source: Korea Times

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