We need to learn quickly to keep up with the massive change around us so we don't get run over. We need to outrun change.
Lots of amazing things going on in the technology open frontier: military countermeasures to combat drones, registration requirement for small drones goes into effect today, and lots of federal agencies use cellphone spying technology.
12/14 – Space War – Venom could address UAV threat to ground forces –
Continue reading “Update on the wide open frontier of technology – 12/21”
A few recent articles that fascinate me. Amazing things engineers can do. Pondering the lack of discretion from red-light revenue generators. Air Force use of civilians to pilot drones flying in combat zones.
10/20 – Link from Behind The Black – What the engineering wizards can figure out amazes this office-living accountant. Check out the huge machine that puts an entire bridge section in place.
Well, since I saw the video, the account has been closed. What it showed was a huge machine that advanced it self to the next pylon and pulled over the gap an entire bridge section and put it in place.
11/20 – Tymshft – Can robots issue citations? More importantly, can people issue citations? –
Continue reading “Update on the wide open frontier of technology – 12/3”
A few of many articles on drones that caught my eye: precision of military drone strikes and possible weaponization of drones by law enforcement in North Dakota.
The second and third articles I’ll mention have a visible bias and agenda. Do I also have multiple biases and agendas?
You better believe I do. Read any five consecutive blog posts and you will quickly see my point of view.
The difference between those articles and this blog is that I’m not pretending to be objective.
8/27 – Wall Street Journal – Hacker Killed by Drone Was ‘Secret Weapon’ – This cyberwar stuff is going kinetic.
A recurring theme in the history of military arms is that a counter-measure emerges for every new technological development. Then a counter to the counter.
7/23 – Wall Street Journal – Next Step for Drones: Defending Against Them / Antidrone defense systems are a rising new business as military, aviation concerns mount.
Today’s illustration of evolving counter-measures is from the WSJ article. Small drones are starting to cause disruption, such as the presence of a couple of drones halted firefighting airplanes and helicopters at a fire near my home recently.
Continue reading “As drones proliferate, next tech leap will be countermeasures”
Did you know more employees are using Uber than traditional taxis? New York has new rules on licensing bitcoin dealers and the Air Force is having challenges getting enough pilots to fly drones. A few fun updates on the wide open frontier of technology:
Continue reading “Fun news from the open frontier of technology – 7/24”
Articles on operation of salt water disposal sites, damage from ethanol, drones in the oil patch, and an interview with Chevron’s CEO (including comments on harsh over regulation in California).
5/26 – Journal Publishing – Putting the ‘safe’ in hazardous oil waste – Superb article on salt water disposal (SWD). Waste water from a well, perhaps two or 3 gallons for every gallon of oil, goes to special treatment sites.
The SWD sites have lots of tanks to let the saltwater settle. Oil floats to the top, is skimmed off, then sold.
Continue reading “More good stuff from the open frontier of energy – 6/1”
A few articles on the astoundingly open frontiers of technology and private space exploration.
Technology
5/21 – Popular Mechanics – Brain Implant Lets Teraplegic Man drink Beer with a Robot Arm – Although this is a little bity step, consider what a huge leap it is from what could be done before.
Sensors attached to a man’s head pick up electronic signals corresponding to him wanting to move his arm. Those signals control a robotic arm to move a cup of water up and toward him so that he can take a sip.
Continue reading “More good stuff on the open frontiers – 5/29”
There are amazing things going on in the wide open frontiers of technology and eduction. Here’s a few articles that caught my eye.
Technology
4/6 – American Interest (Peter) – Jobs of the Future, Travel Agent Edition– Article suggests demand for travel agents is growing and could even outstrip the supply soon.
How can this possibly be? I thought the ‘net deleted the need for travel agents.
The frontiers of private space travel, technology innovations, and the education revolution are amazing to watch. Here are a few articles that caught my eye that I thought are worth a mention of the frontiers that are wide open today:
Space
4/14 – Popular Mechanics – Elon Musk: Falcon 9 Landed “Too Hard for Survival’ – Getting closer to success… The third attempt to land the first stage of SpaceX’s rocket didn’t quite work. The rocket landed on the barge, but apparently hit too hard for the rocket to be reusable. First reports don’t give much more info. The video feed shows the rocket trying to maneuver to the remain completely vertical right before landing, which is probably an indication of some minor issue in addition to too much speed.
A few more tries and then success and then a radical drop in the cost of space flights.
4/15 – Behind the Black – Why SpaceX’s first stage failure is really a magnificent success – Longer video of landing show the rocket was not maintaining straight vertical position. Thus it was wobbly when touching down, fell to the side, and exploded. That is progress. Continue reading “More good stuff on open frontiers – 4/17”
Some fun articles on how pastries are made, a new way of looking at the phrase “Kodak moment”, and there are more challenges to the commercial use of drones than just the new regulations.
How Hostess makes Twinkies and Cupcakes:
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=UvK5u0mRSms]
3/17 – How’s this for a major change in the way your advertising tag line is interpreted? My friend John Bredehoft sent the following tweet:
From Continue reading “More good stuff on the open frontier of technology – 3/26”
A few articles on technology, energy, and publishing that are worth a read and a brief comment.
Publishing
2/10 – Megan McArdle at Bloomberg View – You Want Advice? Don’t Ask Journalists – Journalism as a career path is going through savage turmoil. Want to write in-depth about an industry or topic? She suggests going to work in that industry and find some writing do to there. Then you can go back to journalism if a great opportunity surfaces or your new industry collapses.
Education
2/11 – Chronicle of Higher Education – Meet the New, Self-Appointed MOOC Accreditors: Google and Instagram –
Continue reading “More good stuff on the open frontiers – 2/25”
A few articles on the amazing things going on the in wide open tech frontier. Video of building an airplane. Potential for blockchain (which is the tech behind Bitcoin), we are all moving toward being entrepreneurs, and FAA’s draft rules on drone use.
1/7 – BBC – The world’s biggest ship – for 53 days – The Globe can carry 19,100 of the standard 20 foot containers. That’s equal to 4,550 of the usual container you see pulled on a big rig on the freeway. It is the largest cargo ship on the sea. It weighs in at 186,000 gross tons.
It only takes a crew of 23 to operate this ship, which shows how automated it is. The engine is so efficient that this ship uses 20% less fuel per container than a ship that can hold 10,000 TEU (I think that is the abbreviation).
Boeing – Time lapse video of airplane construction – hattip BehindTheBlack blog.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&x-yt-cl=84838260&v=SE71NJl-naY&x-yt-ts=1422327029]
1/22 – TechVibes – How Technology Behind Bitcoin Could Transform Accounting As We Know It – Great article providing background on blockchain, which is the core technology behind Bitcoin. Good brain stretcher on where blockchain could go.
Continue reading “More good stuff on the open frontier of technology – 2/18”
The frontier of drone technology is wide open. A few articles that stretch my understanding of this amazing world we live in. Some cool pictures this time.
(photo of harbor patrol boat by James Ulvog)
10/6 – Wired – The Navy’s Developing Little Autonomous Boats to Defend Its Ships – The Navy successfully tested the swarming abilities of autonomous harbor patrol boats. An operator can tell small boats like these what ships to defend and what to attack:
(photo by James Ulvog of harbor patrol boats on exercise)
Continue reading “More good stuff on the open frontiers – drone edition”
Just like the wild west in the late 1800s, the frontiers of publishing, technology, and energy are wide open. Here’s a few of the articles that stretched my understanding of this amazing world we live in. Just a brief comment on each.
Downside of technology
Yes, there is a downside.
7/30 – Yahoo – Drone Carrying contraband crashes at SC prison – Drone carrying cell phones, marijuana, synthetic marijuana (huh? what is that?), and tobacco crashed outside the fence of a prison. Article mentions a successful effort to get contraband inside a Georgia prison last year.
Continue reading “More good stuff on the open frontiers – 8/15”
A few articles on the open frontiers of space and technology that are worth a read and a brief comment.
Space
6/14/12 – Popular Mechanics – Tapping the Riches of Space – Continue reading “More good stuff on the open frontiers – 7/7”