Notable Articles (Oct-14-2013)

Are MEMS-based Smartphone Cameras the Next Big Thing?: MEMS stands for “microelectromechanical system” and are microscopic machines that replace the larger, bulkier, heavier and power sucking predecessors.  MEMS is the same technology that has revolutionized mobility technologies like microphones, barometers, gyroscopes, and even electronic clocks.  They are made in fab plants instead of a traditional factory. Vs the camera motors called a VCM most phones use today, this new technology focuses 7x faster, uses 100x less power, produces 80% less tilt, produces 20% less heat, and use 33% less footprint on a phone and as small as 5.1mm z-height. This technology is brought to you by DigitalOptics, a TSRA subsidiary, and they just signed their big contracts with Lite-On and Oppo. [Note: Let me know what you think]…Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/patrickmoorhead/2013/03/04/are-mems-based-smartphone-cameras-the-next-big-thing/

McKinsey: The strategic yardstick you can’t afford to ignore: interesting report, here’s a gem: Most strikingly, only 11 percent of companies in the middle make the leap to the top league. But companies at the top cannot rest on their laurels, because almost half drop out, and one in eight slides all the way to the bottom. For stock pickers, McKinsey points out that at a granularity level of 128 global industries, we can explain 40 percent of a company’s economic profit by the industry in which it competes (Exhibit 8). The industry’s contribution is smaller in the top and bottom quintiles—idiosyncratic factors explain more of the performance differences here. Source: http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/strategy/the_strategic_yardstick_you_cant_afford_to_ignore

What is Probability? Have you really considered it? We use phrases like "the probability of this coin coming up heads is 1/2", and "the odds on Manchester United winning their match are 2 to 1", and "the chance of dying of cancer is 30%". But what do these numbers actually mean? There are fundamentally different views about this, which can lead to very different ideas about how to deal with uncertainty. Source…http://understandinguncertainty.org/node/84

This is how a Helsingin Sanomat journalist tried to save Nokia: Amazing story of how a journalist’s email led Nokia to wake up from its stupor five years ago. Clearly, it didn’t work. Source: http://www.hs.fi/kuukausiliite/This+is+how+a+Helsingin+Sanomat+journalist+tried+to+save+Nokia/a1381288411564?ref=hs-art-new-1

Modern Miners: The genomic gold rush: The title says it all, but in case you were wondering this is a piece that explores the opportunities that are opening up with the decoding of genome and the cloud. Source: http://www.sumonsadhu.com/post/42913715644/the-genomic-sequencing-gold-rush

These Are Some of the Most Amazing Lego Projects Ever Built: [Notes: sorry this isn’t even relevant, it’s just hard not to include for a nerd like me]…Source: http://www.wired.com/rawfile/2013/10/legos-are-no-longer-just-a-toy-theyre-an-art-form/