The Download: KoolSpan finds a marketing opportunity in NSA surveillance controversy

By Steven Overly, Published: June 16

The revelation of an National Security Agency program that may be collecting information about individuals’ communications from telephone and Internet companies has created a marketing opportunity for Bethesda-based KoolSpan.

The firm’s main technology called TrustChip fits into smartphones, tablets, laptops and desktop phones, and encrypts phone calls and digital messages so they cannot be monitored or intercepted, chief executive Gregg Smith said.

The company has sold the chip primarily to businesses and government entities to date, but the NSA controversy has generated interest from average consumers, Smith said.

“We haven’t spent a lot of marketing dollars in pursuit of the consumer to date,” Smith said. “But this news really proved to me that there really is an opportunity for us to pursue the consumer market.”

But couldn’t the technology fall in the wrong hands?

Smith said KoolSpan must screen the prospective buyers of its chips against government databases before making a sale and is prohibited from doing business with certain countries.

Digital revolution

Founding Fathers, meet modern technology.

Historical documents once held by George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison are now available on a searchable Web site called Founders Online.

The project, which debuted last week, is the result of a multi-year partnership between the National Archives and the University of Virginia Press.

In all, creators expect the Web site will host roughly 175,000 documents. That includes 242 volumes of published print documents that have already been transcribed and annotated, as well as about 55,000 documents that are currently unpublished.

MarkLogic, a software company with offices in McLean, provided the project’s technological backbone, which includes document storage, full-text search, databases and Web services, said Kevin Shelly, public sector vice president.

Shelly said the company doesn’t shy away from “unstructured” or “semi-structured” data that may not be ideally formatted for searchable computer databases — such as, say, documents written more than 200 years ago.

The software “turns data into real, usable information,” Shelly said. “Harnessing all of that information is improving outcomes in all areas of business, health care, education, private sector and government.”

Education never exists in a vacuum. Here's what we've been reading this week.

Andrew McAffee: What will future jobs look like?

"In this TED talk an economist outlines trends in the global job market, particularly the growing divide between middle class workers who have and do not have the skills to fully engage in a technology-dominated future."

— Brett, product manager

Don't Blame the Work Force

"This controversial editorial from the New York Times suggests that the skills gap isn't so real, it's that companies simply don't want to pay skilled workers what they are worth."

— Douglas, code literacy evangelist

How Caffeine Can Cramp Creativity

Fascinating read on coffee's relationship to creativity. "I thought I was hardcore, but Balzac takes the cake: 'He pulverized coffee beans into a fine dust and ingested the dry powder on an empty stomach. He described the approach as 'horrible, rather brutal,' to be tried only by men of 'excessive vigor.'”

— Zach, co-founder

In Head-Hunting, Big Data May Not Be Such a Big Deal

"Takeaways: * Brainteasers are useless * GPAs are worthless * Consistency == good leadership"

— Amjad, lead engineer

Apple: Making a difference, one app at a time

"This new marketing video focuses on people creating apps to solve meaningful problems like remote healthcare and helping children who can't communicate in traditional ways. It underlines the "I'm not a programmer - I just wanted to solve this problem" message that gets to the core of learning to code."

— Brett, product manager

Education never exists in a vacuum. Here's what we've been reading this week.

Andrew McAffee: What will future jobs look like?

"In this TED talk an economist outlines trends in the global job market,
particularly the growing divide between middle class workers who have
and do not have the skills to fully engage in a technology-dominated
future."

— Brett, product manager

Don't Blame the Work Force

"This controversial editorial from the New York Times suggests that the skills gap isn't so real, it's that companies simply don't want to pay skilled workers what they are worth."

— Douglas, code literacy evangelist

How Caffeine Can Cramp Creativity

Fascinating read on coffee's relationship to creativity. "I thought I was hardcore, but Balzac takes the cake: 'He pulverized coffee beans into a fine dust and ingested the dry powder on an empty stomach. He described the approach as 'horrible, rather brutal,' to be tried only by men of 'excessive vigor.'”

— Zach, co-founder

In Head-Hunting, Big Data May Not Be Such a Big Deal

"Takeaways:

• Brainteasers are useless
• GPAs are worthless
• Consistency == good leadership"

— Amjad, lead engineer

Apple: Making a difference, one app at a time

"This new marketing video focuses on people creating apps to solve meaningful problems like remote healthcare and helping children who can't communicate in traditional ways. It underlines the "I'm not a programmer - I just wanted to solve this problem" message that gets to the core of learning to code."

— Brett, product manager

by David Hoffman

The Everywhere Project is a collaborative project curated by designer and illustrator, Adrian Walsh. It was created as a tribute to the classic folk song “I’ve Been Everywhere” which was written in 1959 by Australian songwriter, Geoff Mack. The original version of the song listed Australian place names but was later adapted to North American locations by Hank Snow, whose version of the song went to number one on the country music charts in 1962.

The project itself is made up of contributions from a select group of designers and illustrators who are invited to create luggage labels representing each of the 92 locations listed in the American version of the song. Contributors include Evan Huwa, Dan Christofferson, Roxanne Daner and Teresa Wozniak, to name a few.

On the whole it’s a wonderfully well thought out project and you can’t help but admire the quality of the contributions. With several luggage labels still to be designed I’m very much looking forward to seeing what else is to come. For now though, here’s a collection of some of our favourite designs from the project so far:

Which of these luggage label designs are your favorite? Where would you design a label for? Let us know in the comments.

Symbolicons: 1,000+ Professional, High-Quality Icons – only $35!

Christopher Schmitt is a designer, web developer, author, strategist, and dreamer. Working with the web since 1993, Christopher Schmitt directs Heatvision.com, Inc., a small new media publishing and design firm. The author of several books, including CSS Cookbook and Photoshop in 10 Simple Steps or Less, Schmitt is also a contributor to many web development magazines.

In this interview, Randy Hoyt sits down with Christopher to talk images on the web.

The full interview is available to Treehouse Gold Members and can be viewed here: http://teamtreehouse.com/library/treehouse-friends/web-conferences-and-responsive-images-christopher-schmitt

The post Raster vs. Vector Graphics – Excerpt from an Interview with Christopher Schmitt appeared first on Treehouse Blog.