International courier giant Fedex has just released a new tracking device and web service for packages. Called SenseAware , it keeps tabs on the temperature, location and other vital signs of a package - including when it's opened and whether it was tampered with along the way. Fedex is running a trial period of about a year with 50 health care and life science companies, for tracking delivery of surgery kits, medical equipment - and even live organs. We spoke with FedEx head of innovation, Mark Hamm, about SenseAware and how Fedex is tapping into the emerging trend called Internet of Things . Sponsor We've covered Internet of Things extensively on ReadWriteWeb over the past year. It's when everyday objects become connected to the Internet, usually via RFID tags and/or sensors. In the case of Fedex's SenseAware, it is powered by multiple sensors including light, motion, temperature. Fedex's Mark Hamm described the SenseAware device as a "quad-band world phone." As well as the device, there is a browser-based collaboration platform allowing businesses to actively track the progress of a package. Users can set up triggers, alerts and notices - for example using geo sensors to alert others when a package arrives at a destination. Users can set these triggers and decide who they go to. Essentially, the SenseAware events trigger business processes for the users. For the web service, businesses pay a single monthly fee of $120 - for that they get the devices and the browser-based web service. Hamm noted that Fedex worked with the FAA to get permission to use the product on their freight planes; the only such device to have permission from the FAA, he told us. Fedex assembled components for SenseAware from a collection of partners, using Fedex's design specifications. Real-Time Decisions Based on Sensor Data Hamm said that SenseAware will enable companies to make real-time decisions much more easily. For example is a perishable goods package sets off on a 2 day journey, but the sensor data shows that the shelf life suddenly decreases - then the package can be instantly diverted to another location, where the product can still be used rather than becoming useless if it sticks to original delivery schedule. The initial trial period targets life science and medical companies (for example biotech firms), where things like security and knowing the vital signs of a package are very important. Also Hamm highlighted that these companies can collaborate on the sensor data, with precise data and records of delivery. The trial with the life sciences companies is designed to help Fedex make the "last 20%" of the product more efficient. After about a year of this trial, Fedex will then launch the product globally, as a generally available platform. Hamm expects it will be used by any company or organization dealing with perishable goods, high value goods - such as jewelery, dangerous goods, expensive equipment, and goods that are high value because they're unique (art work, music tapes, etc.). Hamm told us that he expects this type of sensor product to be "mainstreaming over time as people become used to interacting with shipments." Discuss

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FedEx Joins the Internet of Things With SenseAware

Through the bravery and efforts of people such as our good friend Drew Olanoff and the LIVESTRONG campaign, many social media users are much more aware of cancer and what this disease does to the body, mind, soul and community. Today, on World AIDS Day, we'd like to direct your attention to a few folks on the social web who are facing lives with HIV/AIDS and have made the same brave choice to share that experience with the rest of us. Read on for bits and pieces of their stories as well as feeds and lists that will keep their struggles and triumphs in your thoughts. Sponsor Shawn Decker's ShawnandGwenn.com Decker, who is a public speaker educator and advocate, blogs with girlfriend Gwenn Barringer about his own struggles with the virus and the challenges of being in an HIV-asymmetrical couple. With the success I've had keeping my numbers stable, I broached the topic of trying one week on, two weeks off meds... My reason for wanting a longer break has been absent-mindedness and lethargy... It's especially frustrating on the days when things just aren't clicking in the old nugget; like when I wake up feeling exhausted instead of rested or, in the middle of a shower, I wonder if I've already washed my hair or not. This tends to happen after a couple of days on meds. Steve Schalchlin's Bonus Round Schalchlin is one of the first HIV/AIDS bloggers, beginning his blog in 1996. Also a songwriter, Schalchlin put his story into music that his partner, playwright Jim Brochu, turned into The Last Session , a musical about a man's struggle with AIDS. In Flash Forward, some of the characters are saying, "The future saved me." I remember when I could see my future. And like this character, there was a certain comfort in knowing I had only just so much time and no more. I'm reminded of the old Chinese saying about how a child who dies has the longest life and an old man, the shortest. I know that that state of mind, of perfect freedom, is available. I know it is because it's only a state of mind. Having gone there, I know what it feels and tastes and smells like. The question is whether I have to know when I'm gonna die to get there again. Kenn Chaplin's My Journey With AIDS Chaplin is a blogger who faces AIDS and is a survivor of childhood and adult trauma and adult-diagnosed mental illness. When diagnosed with HIV in 1989, and AIDS a few years later, it was suggested that I probably had a maximum of ten years to live. In fact I did nearly die of cryptospoidiosis which my doctor still talks about with a sense of marvel. It only seemed logical that I should accept the reality, with countless friends dying around me, and try to live into death with as much grace as I could muster. What I asserted was realism some friends took to be pessimism. One I think of in particular eventually drifted away as, it seems to me, she could neither tolerate what I believed to be reasonable thoughts of dying nor the fact that my health was, to her, no longer of imminent concern. James McLarty-Lopez's Still Arriving McLarty-Lopez is a young, recently married gay man. His blog references medications he takes, side effects he experiences and his general feelings about this part of his life. Chad and I last night were discussing Justin's passing. While very sad it was only a matter of time... I have been tired many times. I have been weak many times. However, through the times in the valley I have always said "I want to live." In comparison, Justin too said he wanted to live, the difference being, he waited far too late to make that decision. He was only 24 and ravaged with HIV and AIDS defining illnesses. Who knows why Justin never really sought treatment? Perhaps the stigma of having HIV stopped him. Perhaps he just didn't want to have to acknowledge the fact he had it. The only person who could have answered that is gone. Speculation will neither ease the pain nor bring him back. Now it's about remembering his smile and moving on with the lesson of I want to live. To subscribe to a 12-blog feed of blogs from folks living with and writing about HIV/AIDS, click here . Also, we've put together a Twitter list of people who live with HIV/AIDS and people who medically treat, advocate for and work with HIV/AIDS sufferers. What better way to observe World AIDS Day than by actually reading the words and understanding the challenges of those who actually live with AIDS or HIV and are unashamed and courageous enough to share those stories with us? Discuss

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Positively Social: Blogging & Tweeting with AIDS/HIV

It only took 3 years to go from HTML2 to HTML4, but the HTML4.01 specifications were published 10 years ago and even though today's web looks very different, we are still waiting for HTML5. The Web Hypertext Application Technology Working Group started preliminary work on what is now known as HTML5 in 2004 and the W3C HTML Working Group was adopted this draft as the basis for the HTML5 specs in 2007. Some modern browsers already offer partial support for HTML5, but there are still quite a few issues that need to be resolved before we will see the finalized version of the HTML5 specifications. One area where there is still a lot of discussion is support for video in HTML5. Sponsor What Codec? Philippe Le Hegaret, the interaction domain leader for the W3C, talked about this issue in an interview with WebMonkey's Michael Calore . According to Le Hegaret, video support is still one of the main issues surrounding the development of HTML5. Safari and Chrome are both based on the same open-source WebKit engine. Video support, however, is not part of WebKit yet, so every vendor implements it differently. Currently, browser developer disagree over how to implement this feature and what codec to use. Apple wants to use uses H.264 and Mozilla, Google and Opera support Ogg Theora. As of now, HTML5 still includes the tag, but doesn't specify which codec to use. Transition from Plugins Until these issues are sorted out, users will have to continue to rely on plugins. Of course, the only way to do away with video plugins would be to make sure that every online video provider also adopted this new standard. As Le Hegaret rightly points out in the interview with WebMonkey, people don't like to install plugins, but everybody installs the Flash plugin because "if you can't see YouTube, your life on the web is pretty miserable. You're missing a lot." Le Hegaret acknowledges that there has to be a transition period before users can switch from Flash to HTML5 video. For developers, the fact that the video is not running in a plugin that can't talk to the browser is a major advantage of having built-in video support in the browser. With video in HTML5, developers can connect the video to the rest of the page and have actions on the page or video influence other parts of the site. What About Microsoft? At today's PDC keynote, Microsoft noted that it has to improve support for HTML5 in its browser. While the company didn't say a lot about Internet Explorer 9, Microsoft

If you've ever had the urge to write your name in wet cement, then you understand what it's like to want to leave your mark on the places that define you. Rather than vandalizing construction sites or tagging your old high school, one positive way to commemorate your life's path is to map it. Instead of locking away your memoirs in a journal or using a family tree to display shared connections, a map is one way you can preserve your history while leaving the door open for others to contribute. Below are seven tools to help you get started: Sponsor 1. Lifenaut : This service allows users to map their lives; however, rather than editing individual layers, users upload files and have the option to give the exact coordinates for specific locations. When another person uncovers that spot on the map all of the deposited files are revealed similar to real life geocaching. 2. Platial : Although slightly busier, the great thing about Platial is that users can follow an RSS feed of a particular point of interest. For example, if you're hoping to reconnect with a childhood friend who isn't searchable on Facebook, you can subscribe to a feed of their home in the hopes that they'll leave a comment. 3. Zoom Atlas : Zoom Atlas lets you edit and upload text and images on top of a map layer. One of the unique features of this site is the LifePath tool where users edit the places they've lived and share their personal timelines, via Facebook. Rather than editing on a Google Map layer, this tool offers users a chance to edit ground layer and set up buildings and landscaping exactly as they remember them. 4. 43places : This service is less about the remote past and more about our adult histories. Users create wish lists of where they'd like to go and tag the places they've already been. 5. Map My Life : Map My Life is a Google mashup where users can add stories to a map. Users upload an xml file with their life's history enclosed and the tool loads and plays that history in both a map and timeline version. 6. Wikimapia : Wikimapia specializes in regional histories; however, many users add their personal histories in the comments below. One of the great things about this site is that rather than trying to edit disparate Google map layers, community residents can come together and take pride in the rich histories that unite them. 7. Wayfaring : Wayfaring is a site where you can add routes and points of interest to your personal map and embed it to your blog. The service takes advantage of Google Maps and lets you invite others to collaborate. This is a great site for hash house harriers and other social running clubs. One user has already created a map of tech companies in the Bay Area below: Discuss

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Seven Tools to Map Your Company or Life History