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Linked and Open Data. Programming. Web. AI. Internet of Things. Databases. 40 Incredibly Useful Computer Tips & Keyboard Shortcuts. Forrester's top emerging technologies to watch, now through 2020. Special Feature The Future of IT: A Strategic Guide ZDNet and TechRepublic draw on their community of C-level executives and business thinkers to prognosticate where business technology is headed over the next 36 months.

Forrester's top emerging technologies to watch, now through 2020

This includes advice, perspectives, and opinions on both creating and reacting to the future. Read More Technology has given your customers choices and digital predators the edge. Across the board, Forrester finds high expectations that emerging technology will help firms stay competitive amidst these changes. Unfortunately, our survey data says that enterprise architects’ ability to anticipate business needs for emerging technology is trending in the wrong direction. To help our clients, we radically rethought this year’s edition of our top emerging technologies to address these age-of-the-customer realities. Four innovation groups organize our Top 15 emerging technologies this year: Emerging business solutions enable new ways of doing business.

OBDLink MX WiFi: A Wireless Gateway to Vehicle OBD Networks by OBD Solutions. OBDLink MX WiFi is a pocket-sized, wireless device that enables you to access the data available on the OBD network with your smart phone, tablet, or PC.

OBDLink MX WiFi: A Wireless Gateway to Vehicle OBD Networks by OBD Solutions

The device plugs into the standard OBD port found in all modern vehicles, and requires no tools to install. The average installation time is 3 minutes, including the OBDLink app download. You can safely leave it plugged in: the unique BatterySaver technology will automatically put the device to sleep. Once you plug it in, MX will appear in the list of available networks as a secure WiFi Access Point. MX supports all legislated OBD-II protocols, plus advanced Ford & GM vehicle networks (Ford MSC and GMLAN).

With OBDLink MX Wifi, you can use your phone or tablet as a diagnostic scan tool, trip computer, heads-up display, and even as a remote control (on select vehicles). You'll also get our OBDwiz software, which offers the same functionality on Windows computers. 3D Printer Builds Homes From Mud In Impoverished Areas. Nearly one billion people around the globe are homeless or live in substandard housing.

3D Printer Builds Homes From Mud In Impoverished Areas

In the era of 3D printing, some have addressed this crisis through quickly built concrete buildings. While this method would create a secure dwelling, delivering the raw materials and bulky printer increases the cost significantly, reducing its feasibility. The Italian 3D printing company WASP may have solved this problem by developing an easily-transportable machine that can quickly create dwellings out of mud and natural fibers—materials already available where the houses will be built.

Making houses out of mud is not anything new. In fact, humans have been constructing with mud and fiber binders for over 9,000 years. WASP featured a scaled-down version of the project earlier this month at Maker Faire Rome, a huge event showcasing innovative technology from all over the globe. Image credit: WASP. 3D Scanner Digitally Immortalizes Invaluable Masterpieces in Five Minutes Flat. Last year, the Smithsonian opened a virtual museum.

3D Scanner Digitally Immortalizes Invaluable Masterpieces in Five Minutes Flat

With Smithsonian X 3D Explorer users can take a virtual tour of (and even 3D print) high-definition digital models of artifacts like Lincoln’s life mask or the Wright Brother’s plane. It’s a brilliant concept. Once digital, artifacts can be easily accessed and explored in detail by researchers, students, and ordinary museum goers. Whereas, most museums only keep a fraction of their inventory on display—a digital museum can show it all off all the time. And of course, digitizing objects saves them for posterity should they be lost or damaged. Digital 3D model of Clark Mills’ Abraham Lincoln life mask at the Smithsonian.

But there’s a problem. The team took over eight months to scan and 3D model just twenty objects. Clearly, at the current slower rate, it would take decades to digitize even a tiny fraction of the world’s cultural heritage. How does it work? Will we soon be able to 3D scan entire monuments and buildings by drone? Home networking explained, part 9: Access your home computer remotely. Editors' note: This post is part of an ongoing series.

Home networking explained, part 9: Access your home computer remotely

Check out the related stories for previous installments. If you've been following this series, you'll know that I explained the LAN and WAN ports on a home router in part 1. And now, I need to tell you how you can use this information to remotely access your device at home. For example, if you know how to use Remote Desktop, a built-in feature of Windows, to control a computer in a different room of your home, how about doing that from somewhere away from home, and save yourself from having to pay for similar services such as LogMeIn or GotoMyPC? That and a lot more are totally possible if you know how to configure your home router. WAN stands for Wide Area Network and is the IP address given to you by the Internet service provider. Note: it's IPv4 that I'm talking about here. In order for each device, such as a computer, to connect to the router (and from there the Internet) it has to have an IP address of its own. Dynamic DNS.