Tag Archives: Microsoft

For All of Us Who Told Our Parents Video Games Were Not A Waste of Time

Image representing Nintendo as depicted in Cru...

Image via CrunchBase

Anybody out there every play pong?  I bet those guys never dreamed that a video game would develop into what we see today.  Even when Nintendo first released Super Mario Brothers, who would have thought that gaming technology would impact so many industries?  In conversations I’ve had with several people in the energy industry over the last few months, gaming technology has come up.  This isn’t the have-you-played-the-new-Black-Ops kind of discussion either.  (Although, that comes up from time to time too.)  In the oil & gas space it has been about integrated operations, and that has inevitably led in to the topic of how many aerospace companies are crossing over into O&G these days.  It also put me in mind of a webcast  from a few months ago that is still available to view.  Really fascinating stuff!

Use of Gaming Technology and 3D Humans to Manage Worker Exposure to Radiation at Nuclear Plants

Utility workers at nuclear facilities are exposed to radiation that must be kept below certain levels to be considered safe. ALARA, an acronym for “As Low As Reasonable Achievable,” is a principle set forth by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission that gives employers an absolute duty to ensure the safety and health of workers in every aspect related to the work in radioactive environments.

During this session, Siemens PLM Software and Microsoft will examine the unique challenges utilities face when training for and planning ALARA human work processes. A special guest speaker from the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) will talk about the ground breaking work they did to create an algorithm to estimate radiological dosage in nuclear plants. Siemens PLM Software and Microsoft will discuss commercial off the shelf software available today to help utilities improve employee health and safety programs by utilizing advanced IT tools for ALARA planning, while also improving work efficiency in the plant. Demonstrations will include Siemens PLM Software’s work planning application Tecnomatix with “Jack and Jill”, the virtual humans and the Kinect for Windows system.

You may have noticed that I get a kick out of the new technology that shows up…everywhere.  If you know of something new that you want to tell me about, drop a comment!  Commenting not your thing?  No biggie, email me, ilovegeekology101@gmail.com.

 I’d love to hear about it!

‘Til next time,

Jessica

Advertisement

Big Data = Big Opportunity, But What A Pain in the…Processor

 

 

In the oil & gas Industry there’s a lot of change and growth happening. As more and more systems become automated and integrated, regulations change, and the market and competitive environment shift, information and knowledge become increasingly more important. Managing that influx of data becomes essential.  Whether this is used in the search for natural resources, understanding the global market, or managing safety and environmental risks, data is essential to make these business decisions.    In this white paper, Drilling for New Business Value, managing Big Data is the topic for discussion.

 

As the oil and gas industry continues to grow in complexity with changes in regulations, tighter margins, and possible infrastructure threats, executives need an easy way to view the increasing volumes of available data, make smarter, faster decisions, and create action plans in real-time. Leading oil and gas companies are recognizing that Big Data and Business Intelligence is not just the domain of “back office” analysts, but it is paramount to optimizing day-to-day operations across a broad spectrum of field workers, engineering, management, and sales and marketing roles. Read more here.

 

When I read the white paper, I was floored by the sheer volume of data out there.  I had to take a moment to try to wrap my head around the number of zeros this would entail.  The paper cites industry analysts IDC,

 

“the digital universe now includes 2.7 zettabytes of data. (A zettabyte equals almost 1.1 trillion gigabytes.)” Vesset, Dan and Benjamin S. Woo. “Worldwide Big Data Technology and Services 2012-2015 Forecast.” IDC. March 2012.

 

Okay, so I knew there was a lot of digital information floating around out there, but until today, a zettabyte was a term I had never heard of.  My company alone has 80+ websites and portals…I can’t even consider all of the social media universe.  Seriously, Tumblr alone with all the GIFs and pictures?  YouTube?  My puny brain is sparking with size of these numbers.  (How many zeros is in a trillion again?)  I kind of feel like the CD someone put in the microwave, just to see what would happen…Zettabytes? Yottabytes?

 

‘Til next time,

 

Jessica

 

Related articles