A couple of my prior entries, the smart bikini and buzz off hat, were about clothing that was capable of doing a little more than covering us up (yes, I know it was a bikini and a hat) and being stylish. So I set off to discover what else could be categorized in the smartwear world. (Note: I’m something of an obsessive autodidact, once something like this interests me, it becomes my mission to learn everything possible about it.)

Whenever I explore a new area like this, I find it helpful to establish some sort of framework to view the area through. My initial explorations have led me to establish some high-level categories to lump smart clothing innovations.

• Material innovations
  • Phase Change – Uses phase changes (solid to liquid) for benefit
  • Shape Memory – Uses current to form (or reform) to a set shape
  • Chromic – Uses external stimulus (light, heat, liquid, pressure) to change properties (color is most frequent)
  • Conductive – Uses high metallic content to gain benefit (insulation, EMI shield, sensing, etc.)
• Integration innovations
  • Energy – Photovoltaic (solar) cells, batteries, and hand generators
  • Electronic/Communication – mobile communication devices, ipods, and gps with an emphasis on hands-free
  • Chemical – Weatherproofing, insect repellent, and stain resistance
  • Sensor – Primarily medical or athletic performance monitoring sensors/devices

As I learn more, no doubt these categories will be revised, but this is the starting place. Over the next few blog entries, I’ll share what I’ve learned about each category with as many examples as I can find.

Technorati Tags: Geek Chic Smart Clothes Smart Wear

As previously noted, I’m something of an Ohio State football fan. One of the joys of being a football fan in the preseason is that all things are possible: winning a national championship, winning the Big 10 championship, beating Michigan, and even having a Heisman Trophy winner. It’s great to dream and hope your team will achieve some measure of success.

Recently I stumbled across Adam Jardy’s series for BuckeyeSports.com where he is using a video game to model how the season might go for the mighty Buckeyes. If it goes like it has in his simulations, there will be a very happy Buckeye Nation.

Read for yourself:
Northern Illinois
Texas
Cincinnati
Penn State
Iowa
Bowling Green

The rest of the season (Michigan State, Indiana, Minnesota, Illinois, Northwestern, and Michigan) to come in the next few weeks. Let’s hope that the Bucks continue to roll, and more to the point, that the real season tracks this story line. Thanks Adam for an excellent series.

Technorati Tags: Buckeye Football Video Game

A colleague of mine has a thing about bugs – he doesn’t like them, but they like him. So, on a recent vacation he accidentally stumbled into something that helped with the bugs while attempting to solve a sunburn problem. It’s important to note that my colleague doesn’t have a proper hairstyle, like me. And as a consequence, his neck is left bare – exposed to the elements. Not wanting to become a redneck, he decided that he’d better get a hat that would provide protection for this tender area.

While the smart bikini is interesting and has UV sensors, the smart hat is practical. No sensors in the hat yet I’m sorry to note.

“Buzz Off” Smart Hat

Note: This is not the actual hat as my colleague’s spouse has forbidden him to wear it outside the garden at this point. But I did attempt to convince him to send me an action shot. Stay tuned, he might yet.

What makes this hat so special aside from its obvious style and good looks? It has an insect repellent native to the fabric. You can’t detect that the chemical is present (no smell, no residue) but the insects do and leave you alone. It’s good for up to 25 washes. Check it out at Buzz Off. By the way, they sell more than just hats… This trend of making clothing smarter and more than just a coverup is interesting. I’ll see what else I can find related to this trend and share.

Technorati Tags: Insect Repellent Hat Smart wear

Sensors, sensors, everywhere. Everytime you turn around, there’s another sensor embedded somewhere you just wouldn’t naturally think. That’s the case here, where a sensor for exposure to sun light is now in the bikini. Yes, that bikini, the 60 year old swimsuit. Now, if we can just network them…..only kidding. These sensors do provide a practical convenience, to let you know when you are increasing your risk of cancer with prolonged exposure to ultraviolet light.

Available in two flavors, geeky with a gauge and camoflauged using color recognition. Photos courtesy of Solestrom. I think they’re on to a new trend in “smart wear.”

Geeky with gauge

Camoflauged with color

Technorati Tags: Bikini Sensors Smart wear

That is, Sun Update Connection, Enterprise version.

It’s been three short months since our acquisition of Aduva. In that time, the former Aduva team along with the Sun Update Connection product team have produced the first release of our new product which incorporates all the goodness of Sun Update Connection Hosted and adds a slew of new features and functions:

• Baselines – Create groups of changes to be applied
• Automated application – Apply a single change, group of changes, and/or baseline to one or more systems
• Simulation – Model proposed changes to your environment before commiting to them
• Rollback – The “oops” protection, revert to prior state at the touch of a button
• Auditing – Know who made which changes when to aid in compliance
• Staging – Pull bits from many different places to a staging ground, mix and match the content in automated change tasks
• Introspection – Don’t trust what the description says, active comparison of symbols in changes vs. claims in descriptions (metadata)
• Provisioning – Deploy configurations to bare metal as workloads and demands change
• Management – Be it a data center, an application service, or a grid, actively manage the assets for workload, performance, cost, and availability.

The team has done tremendous work to get this far, this fast. If patching and update management has ever been a pain, here’s the cure. I encourage you to give it a test drive. Try it now.

Technorati Tags: Patch System Administration Systems Management Grid Software as a Service