Source: USA Today
Tech Pioneer Kenneth Coleman Reveals His Plans for Increasing Diversity
9 Best US Cities for Black Tech Entrepreneurs to Thrive
As tech entrepreneurship thrives, it is increasingly important for Black people to be represented in this group of successful entrepreneurs. According to Bauce Magazine’s 7 Cities for Young Black Professionals and Black Enterprise’s 10 Best Cities to Start a Business, these are the best cities for Black tech entrepreneurs due to their social, cultural and professional opportunities.
Washington D.C.
Washington, D.C., is considered by many to be one of the best places for African-Americans to live. Ranking as one of the best-paying and millennial-friendly cities, D.C. is responsible for more Black internships than any other city in the U.S. Plus, Washington, D.C., is the place to be if you want to rub elbows with some of America’s most-influential people. Many of the city’s startups have ties to the federal government because the founders once worked for Uncle Sam, have a potential solution for a big government problem, or both, as reported by Entrepreneur.com.
New York
The Big Apple is arguably one of the country’s most-opportune cities. It’s a hub for virtually every industry. Fast-paced and ever-changing, New York City is perfect for those who love to constantly be on the move and in the mix of things. New York’s Silicon Alley has emerged as a heavy-hitting startup ecosystem, with a strong foundation of entrepreneurial and tech talent, venture capital, accelerator and incubation programs, marketing/public relations and ad agencies, nongovernmental organizations and government programs, according to Forbes. The city is also the global capital for diverse and female tech entrepreneurs.
Los Angeles
As the intersection of technology and entertainment emerge, tech entrepreneurs find great momentum through the networking and schmoozing of the Los Angeles scene. For example, Hollywood heavyweight Troy Carter, whose clients have included singers Lady Gaga and John Mayer, has recently launched his tech venture AF Square, a venture investment division investing in startups that “disrupt the status quo,” according to the AF Square website. L.A. startups are 58 percent more likely to have consumers as their primary paying customers versus business-to-business. Flourishing communities in L.A. are contributing to its appeal as a startup hub.
Designer Aims to Boost Children’s Confidence with Superhero 3D Printed Prosthetics Hand
One designer and animator is making the most of the latest 3D-printing technology in order to create fun, functional alternatives for young amputees.
Pat Starace, who is both an animator and a mechanical designer, is in the process of creating a line of prosthetics that would make children feel like their favorite Avengers.
The first, and perhaps the most fitting, was an Iron Man-inspired prosthetic hand.
For Starace, it wasn’t enough to just have a product that looked like Iron Man’s arm, but he also wanted it to have some sort of functional cyborg-like abilities for its young wearers.
The arm comes complete with an LED light that resembles Iron Man’s thrusters and fun voice control abilities.
The arm also comes with Bluetooth connectivity, a battery, a USB charger and computing technology that senses the physical world around it.
Starace told Mashable that the entire goal of the prosthetics is to help boost the self-esteem of young amputees to “superhero levels.”
In the future, Starace hopes to add even more interesting technology to the prosthetic.
He believes the arm could be paired with wireless devices, smartwatches, sensors NFC technology and much more.
He also explained to Mashable that while the current model could be placed on a child’s arm today, it doesn’t boast any real-world application just yet.
Thanks to the quickly developing technology behind 3D printing, however, it won’t be long before it is easier to mass produce prosthetic limbs and at a fraction of the cost.
That’s where the proposed superhero prosthetics would really save the day.
Prosthetic limbs are incredibly expensive, but 3D-printing technology could create prosthetics that are much more affordable and easy to make.
This isn’t the first prosthetic to be created on a 3D printer either.
For years now, tech experts have been able to create 3D-printed prosthetics, but they have not been able to create cheaper versions that mirror the quality and comfort of traditional prosthetics.
For now, however, Starace’s Iron Man-inspired prosthetic hand has the potential to come extremely close to giving parents a less expensive 3D-printed option that would also make their child feel more confident.
New Apple iPad Air 2: Love it or Hate it?
Source: Bloomberg – Wired deputy editor Joe Brown, Lunar president John Edson and Bloomberg contributing editor Paul Kedrosky discuss the recent launch of Apple’s iPad Air 2 with Bloomberg West host Emily Chang.
Childish Gambino Teams Up with Ubisoft for ‘Far Cry 4’ Trailer – Video
Childish Gambino, better known by some as actor Donald Glover, recently teamed up with Ubisoft for a rather unexpected project.
While it may not be the first place you would expect to hear the hip-hop star’s music, the trailer for the action-adventure first-person shooter Far Cry 4 uses one of Childish Gambino’s 2013 hits to add some energy and a bit of comedy to the game’s trailer.
It isn’t clear if a hip-hop soundtrack will be used to set the tone in the actual game, but it certainly made a surprisingly pleasant match in the game’s trailer.
Scenes of intense, rated-M gore, extreme violence and hand-to-hand combat are accompanied by Crawl playing in the background.
While some fans may be surprised to hear the song paired with the video game teaser, the hip-hop star himself says Crawl is the perfect match.
The 31-year-old actor and rapper recalled the day he was in the studio making the song and that’s where the connection with the game comes in, he said during a short appearance on the trailer.
He said he remembered someone telling him, “You should go hard on this.”
To that statement he simply replied, “You know what, you’re right.”
He went on to say that the song’s twisted political nature is a perfect fit for the game’s action-packed trailer.
“Where we were, kind of thing, bet you crawl, all alone,” Canadian pop star Kai sings on the song’s chorus.
In the midst of shots of a player gunning down a helicopter and stabbing enemies, a hint of comedy is still introduced into the trailer.
Right when Childish Gambino raps “looking at her booty” the game’s trailer focuses on the giant rear end of an elephant before quickly returning to the action-filled clips.
Far Cry 4 is scheduled to be released in the U.S. on Nov. 18.
The full trailer for the video game can be seen below. Warning: Content rated M for Mature.
This Video Perfectly Demonstrates the Importance of Mentors For Young Minds
Courtesy of the Franklin Institute: “Growing out of the clear need to promote and showcase the diversity within the scientific arena, the Color of Science program highlights traditionally underrepresented groups (e.g., African American, Latino, and female), showcasing their contributions to important scientific and technological innovations.”
Source: The Franklin Institute
Today in History: Inventor Lonnie G. Johnson – More Than Just the Super Soaker
Engineer and inventor Lonnie G. Johnson was born in Alabama October 6th, 1949. After graduating from Tuskegee University with a master’s degree in Nuclear Engineering, Johnson joined the U.S. Air Force. He was assigned to the Strategic Air Command, where he helped develop the stealth bomber program. His other assignments included working as a systems engineer for the Galileo mission to Jupiter and the Cassini mission to Saturn. On Oct. 16, 1984, Johnson received a patent for thermal energy accumulation – pressurized fluid-powered thermodynamic heat pump.
Although he is best known for inventing the Super Soaker squirt gun, Johnson has continued his work in the energy sector. He owns and operates Johnson ElectroMechanical Systems (JEMS) with a focus on developing alternative energy generation technologies to meet tomorrow’s energy needs. And Excellatron Solid State, LLC, a U.S. based technology company, introducing innovative and enabling energy storage technology. Johnson currently holds over 80 patents.
Source: CNN
Today in History: David Nelson Crosthwait Jr. – The Heating Pioneer
David Nelson Crosthwait Jr. was born in Nashville, Tennessee, on May 27, 1898. His interest in mechanics led him to Purdue University, where he studied mechanical engineering. After graduation, he took a job with the C.A. Dunham Co. conducting innovative research. There, he designed the heat system for New York City’s Rockefeller Center and Radio City Music Hall. On Oct. 16, 1934, he patented his invention. Crosthwait held 119 patents — 39 in the U.S. and 80 internationally — all in relation to heating, cooling and temperature-regulating technology.
Embracing Your ‘Inner Geek’ Could Change the World
When people discuss how to make science interesting and exciting, the conversation usually gravitates around children and younger audiences.
Esteemed astrophysicist and Cosmos host Neil deGrasse Tyson, on the other hand, wants to shift the conversation toward adults.
According to Tyson, it’s just as important for adults to embrace their “inner geek” and become fired up about science as it is for children to feel the same way.
For each person, that “inner geek” is going to be something different, but Tyson explained that the important thing is just making sure you remain curious and nurture your thirst for knowledge.
“Your inner geek is simply what empowers your curiosity about the natural world,” he told National Geographic. “When you see a problem, you ask, ‘I wonder how we can solve it?’ rather than, ‘I wonder how fast we can run away from it?’”
Tyson believes that many adults just need a small spark to ignite their inner geek while others may need a little more coaxing to really get interested in the scientific mysteries that surround us every day.
“In most adults I’ve met, there is some ember within that carries their soul of curiosity,” he added. “For some it is almost extinguished and needs to be fanned. For others it’s like a pilot light. You just have to put some extra fuel there, and it ignites.”
A huge part of adding fuel to the fire is by simply acknowledging how vital science really is.
Without a thorough understanding of the world around us, our quality of life may not improve and innovation may come to a screeching halt.
“I don’t know if science can save us,” Tyson told National Geographic. “What I do know is that the absence of science will kill us. If you look at the improvement in quality of life around the world, it is entirely brought about by advances in science and technology.”
He went on to explain that those years of innovation and improving the quality of everyday life are exactly why we aren’t worried about the same things that civilizations from hundreds of years ago were worried about.
“If you polled people in 1900 and asked them what they feared most for civilization, they’d say they worry about hunger and overpopulation,” he said before explaining that there were not efficient farming methods at the time.
Fast forward years later and people have figured out how to farm in an efficient manner – in a manner that makes starvation less of a worry than it was in the past.
“Starvation was a big issue because they knew what the production levels of farms were and saw the rate of population growth,” Tyson continued. “What they didn’t know was that we’d figure out how to farm better. They were not considering innovation.”
You Will Not Believe How Early Black Boys Disengage From the Educational System
On this month’s edition of Kaplan’s The Pulse, Lolita Wood-Hill, director of pre-health advisement at Yeshiva University, and Adam Aponte, assistant dean for diversity and inclusion at Hofstra North-Shore-LIJ School of Medicine, discuss the number of African-American applicants for medical schools.
Source: KaplanMCAT