The data is out there

There is truth in data, and the data is out there. The problem in this information age is not that we have data, but that there is so much of it, and it is very difficult to collate it and make any sense of it.

Dele Olowoyo wants to help us put it all together. His Global Intelligence app is designed to raise awareness of the issues that developing countries face, and to provide a way for people to help find solutions to these issues, through interacting with a huge array of data from The World Bank and the CIA World Factbook.

It's a lot of fun to use, giving you interactive, graphical data at the click of a button. You can learn a lot in a short space of time, and if Sir Francis Bacon was right, then knowledge is power.

Global Intelligence is one of over 100 entries in The World Bank's Apps for Development competition, which "challenges participants to develop software applications related to one or more of the Millennium Development Goals." It has been made possible since The World Bank made a plethora of information freely available back in April, 2010, as part of its Open Data Initiative.

Voting in the competition, which offers $45,000 in prizes, is open for the next 25 days. Here's its promo video:

Shouting (and other stuff) on the rooftops

Today's great idea isn't a great invention, or a world-saving new technology. Today's great idea is just a great idea. Lewis Dryburgh (pictured) is full of them.

The talk he gave at December's Boring Conference, in London, was about spending time on parking lot roofs. How is that a great idea? Well, as he points out, these roofs are unoccupied around 90% of the time. That gives you over 21 hours a day to yourself, in some of the most crowded areas of your city. If you value your space, this really is a great idea!

Dryburgh is a font of quirky, uplifting ideas like this. Previously, he's left friendly messages around for people to pick up, and given his phone number out for random people to call. Stay tuned to his blog, to see what he comes up with next.

Here are 30 glorious seconds he spent on one parking lot roof:

Can't be e-gypped

While you may be familiar with the chart on the left, that details the volume of internet traffic through Egypt during the current political crisis there, what you may not be familiar with is the novel workarounds people are finding to spread the word.

There have been two distinct methods of overriding the internet block. One is to use old technology, and the other is to use really new technology.

Let's start with the old. According to the BBC, there has been a big resurgence in faxing, ham radio, and the old dial up modems that got the internet started. The real advantage of these, is that you don't need an Egyptian service provider to get access - so long as the number at the other end of the phone line can connect you to the internet, you're online!

The new-fangled approach is intriguing, too. Last week, Google bought SayNow - a service that allows you to post voice messages on Twitter. And now they're getting a great chance to demonstrate its efficacy. So many messages are pouring in with the #egypt hashtag, that you could spend your whole day listening to them and nothing else.

And if these two approaches cease to work, there are plenty more. You can limit the provision of technology, but you can't limit determination or ingenuity:

Holo scene

3D TV is so 2010. People may not be saying this just yet, but if researchers at MIT continue their progress with holographic TV, we'll be wondering what all the fuss was about pretty soon.

What's the difference between 3D TV and holographic TV? 3D only comes out at you in one direction, while your location in the room directly impacts what you see with holographic TV - or 'holovideo', as those in the know like to call it. In other words, watching holographic TV is like having the events happen right there in the same room with you - instead of just having things come out of the TV at you.

While there have been previous developments in holographic TV, they've typically required visual data from a lot of sources. What makes the MIT developments so exciting is that they've created holographic TV from a single Xbox Kinect camera.

Here is Michael Bove, Group Head of Object-Based Media at MIT, explaining this development:

And for those who enjoy reading technical jargon, here's the team's recent research paper on the subject.

Eyes wide shut

How many times have you walked by a homeless person? How many times have you invented your own story about them? How many times have you stopped to ask them anything?
If you're like most of us, your answers are:
       1. Many;
       2. Often;
       3. Never.

Fifteen years ago, Mark Horvath would have given the same answers, as he drove his Mercedes mindlessly past the homeless on his way to and from his high-paying television job. Then he became homeless, and he came to the realization that it can happen to anyone. Now, Horvath has made it his mission to collect the stories that we have never taken the time to consider. And they are fascinating.

Horvath has documented hundreds of these stories from around the country on his site, InvisiblePeople.tv, and they are as compelling as they are disturbing. He is a master at capturing the circumstances that have led so many otherwise 'normal' members of society onto the streets, and how difficult it can be for them to extricate themselves from homelessness once it has become their reality.

Still, you may not be convinced. You may be thinking that these people are responsible for their fate. You may be right, but considering that the average age of the 3.5 million homeless people in the US is nine years-old, you might also be very, very wrong.

There are many stories on Horvath's site, why not start with his?

My Story from InvisiblePeople.tv on Vimeo.

Taking food for granting

Fundraising dinners are nothing new, but a growing international network has uncovered a new way to do them. Sunday Soup offer what they call meal-based micro-grants to creative projects in their respective neighborhoods.

The concept is as cool as it is simple: a community of people gather on a regular basis to share affordable meals, and donate the proceeds to a creative project of their choice. At each Sunday Soup gathering, prospective grantees present their projects while attendees dine. Then the diners vote, and the winner gets the grant.

So far, the network has granted nearly $20,000 in 25 locales, at a rate of roughly $400 per grant. There are currently over 20 Sunday Soup groups in the US, and anyone is welcome to start their own. Why not? The worst thing that could happen is that you'd have a great meal; the best thing that could happen is wide open to possibility.

Here's a piece NPR's Marketplace did on St Louis' Sloup"

Jets dream

The idea of jet packs is nothing new. They're regular stars in movies (including Logan's Run (left)), and there have been real-life variations on the theme ever since the Germans invented the pulse jet powered Himmelstürmer back in WWII.

As it turns out, there are a number of complications entailed in getting a jet pack to the market. First and foremost being, nearly every method of producing a jet is going to generate a lot of heat. That makes the prospect of flying one a - shall we say - hot topic.

1960s jet pack & protective suit

Another problem is finding enough fuel to fly for any length of time. There's only so much a person can carry, and mobility is kind of important when you're flying through the air.

So, while the concept is great, the possibility of you or me ever getting a chance to fly with a jet pack has been slim. Until now.

Canadian inventor, Raymond Li, has come up with the ingenious idea of using water to power you into the air. His JetLev jet pack goes on the market in March, and retails for around $100,000. It may look a little cumbersome, but imagine the possibilities: with a few tweaks, you could foreseeably jet across the ocean, or around the Great Lakes, even up the Amazon. Meanwhile, though, just expect to see these things in and around resorts: