Quicksilva thoughts...

This seems to make perfect sense to me!

With millions of people accessing computers and the web each day why not get some assistance in quitting smoking through this medium?

It might not prove successful for everyone on its own and there might well be the need for some of the other more traditional methods to run alongside but it can't do any harm?

No set times for meetings to fit in with, cost effectiveness, confidential, easily accessible and widely available to name but a few of the pros...

The benefits of using this method would surely mean that most people would at least give it a try. Either way this can only be another thing to add to the pro list. Even if it only stops one person smoking it is surely going to help towards getting the £5 billion bill down that smoking related diseases costs the NHS.

Quicksilva thoughts...

I've been following the progress of the bionic eye since the first major trials got underway in the States back in 2007. I think this particular technology has really captured my imagination. It's tapped into that kind of excitement that I had as a kid when I watched in awe at the wonders of Star Trek. I thought that it would be years after my lifetime that such a thing would be a reality – but here it is being trialed on real people with encouraging results.

In this digital age with the technological progress we have seen over the past 20 years it's easy to take new advancements for granted. But for me this is a real milestone in medical technology, as it has the potential to transform so many lives for the better. I really hope that the surgeons at Manchester Royal Eye Hospital get the patients that they need to be able to progress. All we need then is for somebody to start work on the Holodeck...

Quicksilva thoughts...

Two techies have come up with a plan to overhaul the seemingly flawed methods of measuring corporate risk. The project hopes to remove the stagnation of too few models, narrow data sets and conflicts of interest whereby the risk model developers are paid for by the firms they evaluate. Anderson and Segaran's project is accessible to all; the open API lets users design their own risk crunching models thus injecting some much needed variety and transparency.

This idea has real potential if you agree that the risk model is king and that the markets have been working with defective 'Frankenfinance'. But what was it then that meant Goldman Sachs were able to read their risk reports and react accordingly but A.I.G were not? How do we mitigate the human aspect of risk management? What we cannot change is some of human nature's less desirable characteristics such as greed and arrogance; it doesn't matter how many risk models you have if someone is going to ignore the warning signs or not have the guts to own up to not understanding the way something operates.

Quicksilva thoughts...

Mobile computing has always been advantageous to business users with smaller, more powerful laptops arriving every few weeks but nowadays this seems to be filtering through to the home users; with cheap net books becoming more available and smartphones like the iPhone allowing simple programs and games to run.

This is why this latest technology from Intel intrigued me so much, having the ability to have the whole cloud's processing power behind these tiny little devices, the possibilities are endless. All that is required is a small lightweight machine with internet access and you can access as much power as you could ever possibly need! Imagine the possibility of using your phone/netbook to process studio quality photograph's while on the move on a train? Combine this with cloud storage and you will have a completely mobile fully capable computer able to complete all most all the tasks your home or business desktop could cope with. Future technology at its best, let's hope the price isn't too high!

Quicksilva thoughts...

Google are simply head and shoulders above the rest of their competitors when it comes to developing web technology. Just where do they get their innovation from?!

With most of their applications being free to use and their approach to the audience always coming across at a social level, it's no wonder they have such a large following.

Out of their 6 upcoming technologies mentioned in this article, I am particularly interested in Google Wave - it's as though they have read my mind; making my thoughts on how to surf the web become a reality. Let's hope they can deliver my expectation!