Unlike other known systems, the Radiance’s WeaponWatch is powered by infrared sensors that can literally detect missiles or gunfire at the speed of light. It even works while under heavy attack and at longer sniper distances.

WeaponWatch is one of the major reasons Radiance has grown from only three employees six years ago to 275 now, making it one of the 500 fastest-growing small businesses in the United States. It had revenue in 2004 of $35 million, a 701% growth over the last three years, and moved up 66 places to #148 on the 2005 Inc. 500 list.

The Shanghai Morning Post reported in September that Zhai Zhingang and Nie Haisheng are in the running to be the taikonaut to pilot the flight.

The first technology license for Segway will be with Hong Kong-based Wow Wee. Wow Wee will use the Segway technology in its next generation of robotic entertainment products such as Robosapien, Roboraptor and Robopet.

Most news organizations are reporting that Yahoo is taking a more cautious step than Google by announcing that it will only scan and digitize texts in the public domain, except where the copyright holder has expressly given permission. However, this leaves open the question of what “in the public domain” actually means.

Google has come under fire for scanning all books and saying that it will release full texts of books with expired or non-claimed copyrights, while offering full searching through all texts. Publishers have been up in arms about this practice, but the legal community (or rather those not affiliated with a publishing house or the publishing industry) has said that this usage likely falls under “fair use”.

Yahoo may not be allowing the searching through full texts of copyrighted books (yet), but the scanning and offering of full texts for books “in the public domain” may match with Google’s announced plans. We will have to wait for the details to see how Yahoo defines this. If Yahoo begins scanning and offering books where the copyright holder is unknown, publishers across the board and the Authors Guild will have another target, and Google may have another ally.

Northrop Grumman, known as a world leading defense company, currently employs around 1,200 people in the Huntsville, Alabama area near Redstone Arsenal. In a continued commitment to the community, Northrop Grumman will be building a new five building, $80 million complex in Huntsville to consolidate its various offices, laboratories and R&D centers.

Crestview Aerospace, based in Florida, plans to open a new facility in Fairhope, Alabama to build and modify rotary wing aircraft for existing contracts. Much of Crestview Aerospace’s growth can be attributed to an increased demand for the high-tech modification of military aircraft and a partnering with Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Bell Helicopters and others.

When looking for a U.S. home for its expansion, European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS), based in France, was recently drawn to Alabama’s aerospace industry. EADS’s new facility in Mobile, Alabama will produce aerial refueling tankers. The state’s incentives and Mobile’s easy access to a deepwater port made the decision to move to Mobile an easy one, according to EADS representatives.

GKN Aerospace announced in July that it will expand its Tallassee, AL facility by 120,000 square feet by 2007. GKN is known for designing, testing, manufacturing and assembling a wide-range of composite structures for civil, military and commercial and space programs. As part of the incentive package for the expansion, the state contributed $1.5 million and the city of Tallassee contributed $250,000 towards the expansion, with GKN investing $250 million. In an Expansion Management article, Paul Crocker, VP and General Manager of GKN Aerospace in Alabama, said “The work force in Alabama is about the best I’ve worked for in 35 years.” And “The work ethic of the whole work force is tremendous. They work hard and they work well.”.

With offices located near Huntsville and Birmingham, The Technology Suits is well associated with Alabama’s growing position in the technology, defense and aerospace industries. Many in the country view Alabama as the deep South and behind the times, but this could not be further from the truth. Alabama does have a strong cultural heritage but has seen huge advances in higher education and technology related business in the past few decades.

The aerospace and defense industries have been in north Alabama for decades. However, the relatively recent entrance/expansion of the automotive industry by Honda in Talladega, Mercedes Benz in Tuscaloosa and Hyundai in Montgomery has helped to really push the next-generation industries in the state. This new wave of aerospace and defense expansions will help to ensure that Alabama keeps its new position as a leader in technology.

Recommended Resources:

• How to Start a Business in Alabama (Smart Start Series)
• Alabama Investment and Business Guide (US Business and Investment Library)
• Alabama Business Directory (Alabama Business Directory)
• Business Alabama(Magazine)
• Smartstart Your Alabama Business (Smartstart (Oasis Press))

The U.S. Department of Energy provided major funding for the project, and Verizon expects additional funding for the expansion of the project to come from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority.

Each of the seven fuel cells in the project is capable of generating 200 kilowatts of electrical power per hour. Verizon estimates that using this new technology reduces the amount of carbon dioxide that would have been released by a typical fossil-fuel power plant supplying its power by 11.1 million pounds. According to Verizon’s announcement on the project, “The new fuel cells will use natural gas piped in from local gas company Keyspan to obtain the hydrogen atoms for the chemical process. The natural gas is not burned. Instead, the hydrogen atoms are detached from the gas as it is fed into each of the seven cells, and then combined with oxygen atoms from the air to generate direct current electrical power. Heat and water is then vented from each cell, and direct current is converted to alternating current electricity for use in the building.”

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The banking industry has been looking to expand brick-n-mortar and internet banking into Texas due to its accelerated growth in recent years. The Census Bureau says that Texas’ population grew by 23 percent from 1990 to 2000 and another 6 percent since then.

Once the deal closes regulatory checks and receives shareholder approval, Compass will have more than $31 billion in assets, making it the nation’s 28th largest bank. Analysts also see this key move to expand Compass’s swap and bond desk activities further.

Anderson comes to the NSSTC from NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, where he served as director of the Office of Center Operations. His background also includes an appointment to the federal Senior Executive Service in 1998, serving as chief counsel at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center from 1998 to 2003. He has a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and law degree from the Univeristy of Alabama.

The NSSTC was created by and is operated by NASA and the Alabama Space Science and Technology Alliance. It “conducts cutting-edge scientific study in various disciplines, including Earth science, space science, optics, biotechnology, materials science, information technology and propulsion.”

According to the announcement, “We’re very proud to bring Bruce Anderson’s experience and insight to the NSSTC,” said Whitaker, who also is director of the Science and Technology Directorate at Marshall. “His legal expertise and knowledge of science and engineering will help us sustain the stellar work of this research organization — bringing unprecedented scientific value to Alabama and the nation.”

HUNTSVILLE, Ala.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Sept. 14, 2005–Digital Fusion, Inc. , an information technology (”IT”) and engineering services provider announced it has been awarded a competitive contract for Acquisition and Business Support Services (ABSS) by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Huntsville, AL. The contract is a performance-based, Firm-Fixed-Price, Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract with a maximum value of $48.75 million over five years, if all options are exercised. The contract has a two week phase-in period beginning September 16, 2005, to be followed by a one year base period and four one year options. Digital Fusion is the prime contractor and does not anticipate using any subcontractors on this contract.

Under the ABSS contract, Digital Fusion will provide a wide range of acquisition and business support services at Marshall Space Flight Center. Business services includes program management, order management and control, budget integration and financial analysis, support to various business systems, assessing and developing business processes, and developing business models and plans to assist MSFC strategies. Acquisition support includes administrative and data processing services acquisition policy services, price and cost analysis support, procurement systems services, special studies and acquisition management services.

“We are delighted and deeply grateful to be selected through the competitive procurement process to support NASA/MSFC in one of MSFC’s critical business roles,” said Frank Libutti, chairman and interim chief executive officer. Gary Ryan, president and chief operating officer added “Our goal is to provide service exceeding customer expectations while demonstrating our commitment to safety, NASA Family, excellence and integrity. This win demonstrates Digital Fusion’s deep commitment to the competitive process and solidifies our position as a professional and IT service provider within the competitive market place.”

About Digital Fusion

Digital Fusion, headquartered in Huntsville, Al., is an information technology and engineering services company that helps its customers make the most of technology to meet their business needs. Digital Fusion’s IT Services provides solutions to both government and commercial customers, focused in the following areas: Business Process Automation, Application Development and Data Management, Application Security, Web Portals and Digital Dashboards, System Integration and IT Support. Digital Fusion’s Engineering Services support a variety of customers with state-of-the-art solutions that include: Computational Aerodynamics/CFD; Optical Systems Design, Development and Test; Thermo/Structural Dynamics; Modeling and Simulations; Hardware-in-the-Loop Testing; Program Analysis; and Ground/Flight Planning, Execution, and Data Analysis. For additional information about Digital Fusion visit http://www.digitalfusion.com.

About Marshall Space Flight Center

The Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama is one of NASA’s largest and most diversified installations. The Marshall Center has been a key contributor to numerous significant NASA programs during the Agency’s 45-plus-year history–from the 1961 flight for the first U.S. astronaut into space, to the Apollo missions exploring the Moon, to development and operation of America’s Space Shuttle fleet, and construction of and scientific discovery aboard the International Space Station. For additional information about Marshall Space Flight Center visit http://www.msfc.nasa.gov.

Forward Looking Statements. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this release are forward-looking statements. When used in this release, words such as “project”, “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,’ “plan”, “intend” and similar expressions, as they relate to the Company or its management, as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to the Company’s management, identify forward-looking statements. Similarly, statements herein that describe the Company’s business strategy, outlook, objectives, plans, intentions or goals are also forward-looking statements. Actual results could differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements as a result of certain factors including, but not limited to: the effect of business and economic conditions; the impact of competitive products and pricing; capacity and supply constraints or difficulties, the Company’s dependence on continued funding of U.S. government programs; contract procurement and termination risks; competitive factors such as pricing pressures and/or competition to hire and retain employees, and material changes in laws or regulations applicable to the Company businesses. Such statements reflect the current views of the Company with respect to future events and are subject to these and other risks, uncertainties and assumptions relating to the operations, results of operations, growth strategy and liquidity of the Company. These statements reflect the Company’s current beliefs and are based upon information currently available to it. Be advised that developments subsequent to this release are likely to cause these statements to become outdated with the passage of time.

On first view, Google’s plan to scan books and make them available through their search engines appears to violate copyrights on these books, and many large publishers have geared for a fight with the search giant. However, at closer inspection, Google only plans to allow searching within these texts and does not plan to make full text or even large sections available to users. This, likely, falls under the terms of fair use.

InternetWeek’s Christopher Heun takes an unbiased and thorough look at the legal hurdles behind the Google Print Library Project in a new article.

A court will generally look at the “character” of the company’s activities, “its adverse economic impact on the copyright holder, and the amount of material it uses in proportion to the whole and if that is key to the work.” Google announced plans for its consumer offering will be the ability to search through the full text of the scanned titles. If a work is copyrighted, Google plans to only provide a few sentences surrounding the search term. For works with expired copyrights, the full text will be available.

Publishers argue that even with this limited viewing of their texts that Google will profit from displaying advertisements on the limited results, thus making the usage commercial. The problem with this argument is that the fair use doctrine only partially considers commercial usage. If Google displays three to five sentences or even a whole paragraph out of 200 page book, this is likely such a small percentage of the total work that any usage will be allowed.

One issue that publishers have yet to quote in their defense is the ability for someone to offer an application that uses smart searching for phrases within these limited results to return the full text of the book. For instance, if you display the first paragraph in the book and can simply search for the exact ten word phrase/sentence at the end of the provided text, multiple iterations could return the entire book. In this example, Google would still only be providing limited usage and a third party add-on or site might be using this offering, perhaps against Google’s terms, to offer full books, which would hurt the publishers’ businesses. Who, if anyone, would be liable is a question for the lawyers.

While not mentioned in the InternetWeek article, publishers may have an ulterior motive in opposing Google’s library project. Many large publishers make millions of dollars every year from issuing single editions and compilations of books with expired copyrights. English literature classes (e.g. Shakespeare) alone provide substantial revenue from this segment.

Publishers have made little noise against the ebook editions that have been available for years, as a lack of standards and availability have not made these viable options for many schools. However, any offering from Google will provide a ready alternative source for these many of these “free” titles.

As authors ourselves, The Technology Suits strongly supports the rights of copyright holders to be compensated for their creations. We also believe in taking an unbiased view on new technologies such as the Google Print Library Project. There are obviously pluses and minuses to new technologies and their ability to make content more readily available. It is important that creators of content stay up to date with these to protect their creations, expand their audience and receive proper compensation.

Proponents of free municipal provided WiFi say that it will bring internet access to lower-income households, improve tourism and benefit businesses. There are benefits, but many of these do not pass even the most basic cost-benefit analysis.

Even with free internet access, the cost for a computer and wireless card are still a large barrier for many low-income households, but the “digital divide” is one that does need continued attention. A better program would include a program for providing refurbished computers, training and fixed line broadband at no cost.

General businesses use a tremendous amount of bandwidth and currently pay large fees for these services. If a municipality offers free access WiFi, business will begin to transition to the free service. With the increased load on the municipal network and decreased service provider revenue from the businesses, the service fees the municipality pays will increase drastically. As these costs increase, the general tax base will need to cover these services, which fundamentally spreads the costs among all, even those people and businesses that are not using the internet.

Some municipalities have proposed offering WiFi for a cost and simply providing free services for low-income households, but this still leaves the cost of the initial computer hardware as a barrier to internet access and moves the city into the position of a utility/service provider.

There is a noticeable benefit to tourism, especially business travel, when advertised, but most municipalities have only proposed these all encompassing wireless offerings.

Enter a simple but novel approach from Huntsville, Alabama. Many do not think of Alabama as a technology front mover, but Huntsville is home to 1) one of the country’s two U.S. Space Camps 2) Intergraph Corporation, 3) sizeable offices for Boeing, Northrop Grumman, LG Electronics and Lockheed Martin 4) Redstone Arsenal which houses several military and NASA installations, plus external associate firms 5) many other large technical installations and smaller R&D houses.

Huntsville’s approach to WiFi is to partner with Traveller Internet Solutions to offer a limited free WiFi solution to visitors of the Big Spring International Park, which covers the Von Braun Convention Center (170,000+ square foot center) and much of downtown.

Technicians are still fine tuning the service and will fully activate the links shortly. When completed, each user will be given three free house of service per month, with the ability to pay for extended service.

This three hour free offering will serve the need of most business and personal travelers and are projected to be a great new benefit for the convention center. In exchange for the right to offer and charge for extended services, Traveller provides the WiFi network, under municipal supervision, at no cost to the city. This arrangement also allows businesses and even the convention center the ability to work with Traveller to provide additional complimentary hours.

Other municipalities would do well to copy this arrangement from Huntsville. It provides wireless data access to visitors and residents for basic needs at little cost to tax payers, may even become a revenue stream from commissions on extended plans sold by the service provider and leaves open the possibility of helping low-income households access the internet.

With the release of Google Desktop 2, Google has answered many of these initial questions, and ones that remained open after the release of Google Desktop Enterprise in May. However, some security analysts are still leery about the new search software.

This latest version no longer indexes password protected files and will not view files in other users’ directories, but it is one of the new feature suites that is causing some concern. This new version adds a Sidebar that searches the internet for information (email, news, weather, photos, stocks, Atom feeds) and displays them to the user based on their web browsing history.

In an in-depth article by eWeek on the subject, Nikhio Bhatla, product manager for Google Desktop is quoted as saying “we wanted to let people just sit back and let the Web come to them.” This can be quite benefical for users but does add two concerns:

First, many users perform searches that they may not wish included in any of these preview windows. There may be searches they wish to keep private of one reason or another. This may include possible present ideas for a husband, wife, child, etc. that they do not wish related items to be displayed when that person is around, or it may include work related materials that may not be appropriate for someone else to see.

Secondly, some security analysts are still concerned about the sending and receiving done by the Google Desktop. Now Google is a public company and one with a great record on privacy thus far. However, part of the job of security analysts is to be mild conspiracy buffs, and any ability for a program to upload information without them knowing exactly what is being sent bothers them.

There are other concerns raised by those in the security field, but many of these simply do not stand a real evaluation. One example is the claim that these new search tools are a security risk because they allow you easy access to any file no matter where it is stored on the system. This does not hold because any security plan that is based on burying information deep within file structures is not worth much regardless of any search tool.

These new search tools are clearly beneficial to consumer and business users. They may also serve a double benefit of forcing individuals and companies to think a little more about security in the digital age.

Component strength is extremely important for many applications and tested strength of the new material already exceeds the strongest steel sheets and Mylar and Kapton sheets used for ultralight air vehicles. This new nanotube sheets “can be made so thin that a square kilometer of solar sail would weigh only 30 kilograms.”

Some of the reported demonstrations include:

• Yards of ribbons have been successfully run that are lighter than a feather but stronger than steel
• Made entirely of carbon, they also conduct electricity
• Sheets (measured in meters) created from nanotubes can be ‘pulled’ and created on the fly in minutes
• The sheets can collect solar energy, and do so when bent or creased.

Example applications include:

• Blankets that could be unfurled in the desert to harvest energy for soldiers
• Clothing strong enough to repel a bullet
• Car doors strong enough to protect passengers and double as batteries
• Composite structures for fuel cells, supercapacitors or light emitters

For a full overview of the developments, see the UTD press release and the August 19th issue of the Prestigious Journal Science.

Since then, Skype has hired Morgan Stanley to help facilitate a transaction or take the company public. While Skype has raised more than $20 million in funding from private investors Howard Hartenbaum, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Index Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners and Mangrove Capital Partners, it simply needs more money to keep pace with its competitors. As an example, Vonage raised $200 million from investors earlier this year.

Of Skype’s advantages is that most consumers do not need additional hardware to run VOIP. Most VOIP providers use digital phones to connect to broadband networks. Skype, on the other hand, can run entirely as a web-based service where members use the microphones and speakers attached to their PCs or embedded in their laptops. With more than 147 million downloads of its software (free and premium), the interest from consumers and businesses is clearly there.

Business models for the company include charges for the ability to call landline and wireless phone number, in addition to opportunities for advertising, marketing and media distribution.

Yahoo! Has offered voice communications through its messaging service for quite sometime, but the recent acquisition of Dialpad may have been provided the company the last bit needed for a complete standalone application.

Skype, with over 147 million downloads of its software and 30 million registered users, has recently hired Morgan Stanley to help find a buyer for the company or take it public (estimated $3 billion value).

The large number of telecom and internet bankruptcies over the past five years has created thousands of miles of “dark” fiber-optic cable across the country. Google has been quietly buying up these high speed cables and super fast connections from other firms. At the same time, Google has been funding a project with Feeva, a startup, to provide free WiFi access in San Francisco’s Union Square shopping district. More recently, Feeva is rumored to be developing similar projects throughout California, Florida, New York, Washington and elsewhere, with an unnamed backer.

Numerous media outlets are touting Feeva’s proprietary technology that allows it to “pinpoint” a user’s exact location in real-time. While this is an interesting means for location determination, Feeva is not the only company capable of using WiFi for location “spotting”. Microsoft, Skyhook Wireless and others have proven the ability to use hotspots to triangulate user’s locations. Although, the area is still new, and the technology requires knowing the location of hotspots (open or closed) in an area.

With Google’s recent fiber-optic purchases/leases and the rollout of Feeva, Google does appear to positioning itself to offer WiFi to the masses, at least in major cities.

Will “GoogleNet” be free? That is the next question. Google does offer some services/software for a fee and has continually told analysts that standard sales/licensing processes remain a viable option. However, it is much more likely that a WiFi offering by Google will be paid for, at least in part, via advertising similar to the majority of its services. Consumers often view searches on Google/Yahoo or even basic television as free, but it is not. These services are paid for from advertisers. While consumers may not pay initially, the advertising budget supporting these services come from consumers purchases online, in stores or from service centers. The business model is simply different.

With Sprint Nextel owning 2.5 gigahertz coverage for 80% of the country, we may begin to see a race to push bandwidth well above the limits of the 3G networks being rolled out.

The idea is based on a MIT paper called “Voices of Attraction” that analyzed 60 five-minute speed-dating sessions and an unpublished study in the area. The research from the speed-dating sessions showed that verbal and non-verbal clues could be used to gauge a person’s level of interest in the conversation.

The software could be used by companies during negotiations to get the edge on their counterparts, by lecturers at conferences to keep the crowd engaged or even by individuals to make sure they are giving a situation the adequate attention.

Project leader Anmol Madan, a Ph.D. candidate at the MIT Media Lab, and his advisers–Alex Pentland, director of the Human Dynamics Research Group at the Media Lab and Carl Marci, director of Social Neuroscience at the Lab have formed IMetrico to capitalize on the research and begin development. There is a long way to go from preliminary research to a working production version of the software, but the area is of great interest and one that we will continue to watch.

We follow a diverse list of sites quite regularly and hope you will take a few minutes to see what sparks your interest.

If you are not on the list or have found a site that we may have missed, please add a comment or drop us a line and let us know.

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The government plans to release new rules for controversial car black boxes this summer, according to a spokesman for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Contrary to expectations, the rules don’t require automakers to install the boxes in every car, but they do require the boxes to record a minimum of 29 pieces of data, more than most black boxes currently record.

In a nod to privacy concerns, the rules require automakers to disclose in the owner’s manual when a car has a black box and why it’s there. But privacy advocates say they’re disappointed that the rules don’t limit the amount of data the boxes can record or address concerns about how recorded data can be collected or used.

In New York this year, a defense attorney challenged the admissibility of information gleaned after police removed data from a defendant’s black box before obtaining a search warrant.

A judge ruled, however, that the seizure was legal and that the driver had no reasonable expectation of privacy since he’d been on a public highway and exposed his driving behavior to anyone watching.

“Essentially what (the NHTSA) has done is encourage more data collection without a corresponding increase or concern for privacy protection,” said Chris Hoofnagle, director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center’s West Coast office.

…

EDRs were designed to help automakers build safer vehicles. But manufacturers have used the data to defend against product liability claims. Police investigators have also increasingly been using the data to charge drivers with speeding violations and serious crimes. And insurance companies want the data to dispute unwarranted claims and tie policy rates to driving behavior.

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