Making smarter systems smarter

Pop by the smarter planet blog for the latest in our series.  This week, IT Infrastructure, or, making smarter systems smarter.

Skype schmype

OK, I admit it…  I’ve been recording all of my telephone interviews over the last few years by pointing a microphone at a speakerphone.  With all of the options out there, it’s a bit disgraceful, but I have to say it has worked wonders.  The big downside has been having to find a quiet room everytime, which can be a challenge in a crowded corporate headquarters building stocked with cubicles.

Many of you are shaking your heads saying ‘what about Skype?’  Well, I learned years ago that my laptop is not only always pressed for hard drive space, but that I actually often need it for other things while recording.  It just did not make sense to use it as my recorder in any situations.  I had to have a portable recorder for ‘man on the street’ applications, and to keep my laptop free from the process.

But I got very sick of this ‘looking for a free room every three days’ situation.  I needed a better way. 

Took some doing, but here is what I settled on.  I have a new desk phone tapped into my desk phone line, my Marantz portable recorder , and  JK Audio telephone interface device.  What a treat. 

Costly, yes.  A massive reduction in hassle? Oh yeah.  I’m ready to rumble.

Congestion Remedies

I have just published my first podcast in the Building a Smarter Planet series here.  The topic is traffic.  From the blog post:

“Experts today look at causes such as human behavior and the effects that architecture, urban design and engineering have. Efforts such as electronic road pricing systems have been implemented in cities like London, Stockholm and Singapore, which reduces traffic and offers a wealth of digital information that can lead to important mathematical analysis of patterns toward further solutions. “

Hop on over to A Smarter Planet and give it a listen. Leave a comment too!