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Doug 4:46 am on June 29, 2000 | 0 | # |
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I’m in Detroit at a meeting of the Robotics Industry Association. The meeting is about developing standards for Open Architecture robot controllers.

Robots are cool, and you can do some amazing stuff with them. What a lot of people don’t realize though, is that the devices used to control most industrial robots are pretty limited compared to even the average PC. Fortunately, that’s changing, as we’re now seeing PC-based controllers emerge. One of the implications of that is that robots can now become another device on the corporate network. Today there was a lot of discussion around adopting Interernt standard protocols for use in robotics, and things like the development of standard XML schema for things like reporting process data and configuration management. I’m guessing that within 18 months or so that there will be robot controllers available with integral web interfaces similar to HP network printers. The coolest thing though was the obvious commitment to Open Standards (and movement away from MS as the target platform) by players like GM.
Doug 1:38 pm on June 23, 2000 | 0 | # |
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The Internet Law Journal is the first legal journal to focus exclusively on Internet-related legal issues. The articles are readable even for non-lawyers. Possibly an excellent reference if you’re at all concerned with issues such as Intellectual Property or Privacy online.
Doug 1:18 pm on June 22, 2000 | 0 | # |
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Certainly technology has changed the lives of people in developed countries in significant ways. The changes possible from appropriately applied technologies in developing countries, however, are far more significant and potentially more meaningful. CNN has an in-depth feature on this subject running right now, called Virtual Villages: Technology and the Developing World. Sure, there’s a digital divide, but technology is helping developing nations leapfrog entire stages of economic development and providing opportunities their citizens wouldn’t otherwise have.

When I was working on my undergrad in Natural Resources almost two decades ago, I remember my professors and fellow students often engaging in discussions about how the US should only be funding “appropriate” technology in aid programs to developing countries. They felt that it just wasn’t right, or a good use of resources, for villages in Africa, for example, to have technologies that depended on electricity introduced to them. I imagine many of the people described in this CNN feature are glad that this view never won out. Eliteism under the guise of liberalism…pretty revolting.
Doug 3:33 am on June 22, 2000 | 0 | # |
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I just finished watching Humans: Who Are We? on the Discovery Channel. This is just a fantastic documentary. Even if you aren’t into science, I think you’ll find this interesting. Did you know, for example, that homo sapiens nearly went extinct 50,000 years ago after what appears to be a major volcanic eruption - and that every single one of us alive today is descended from the 10,000 or so who survived? Pretty good stuff if you’ve ever wondered about where we come from. The show will be rebroadcast Saturday.
Doug 12:50 am on June 22, 2000 | 0 | # |
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Uhm, right…
Doug 1:44 pm on June 21, 2000 | 0 | # |
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Seriously, you really have to have a good business plan if you want to run a company, even in the New Economy. Watch the once hopelessly optimistic as they crater all over the place. At least you can (hopefully) console yourself that you don’t work at one of these companies.
Doug 1:18 pm on June 21, 2000 | 0 | # |
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It’s long been known that open water almost certainly flowed on the surface of Mars, and that water is probably locked up under the Martian surface. Space.com announced today, however, that NASA may have found evidence of open water seepage on the Martian surface. This could be big stuff, and certainly the place to go looking for life on the Martian surface.
Doug 3:33 am on June 21, 2000 | 0 | # |
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There’s been a lot going on the past few days, but I’ve just been too crispy to post much. We just did a major Intranet launch at work, which has required a lot of coding and software management work, so I just haven’t much been in the mood to mess with blogging when I get home. Combine that with the cold I’m only just now getting over, and well, my energy level just hasn’t been up to doing much with this site for a week or so.

I seem to be recovering a bit, so hopefully I’ll post more this week. I’ve got a couple of cool new things to cover, but bed and an excellent book are calling me.
Doug 1:29 am on June 16, 2000 | 0 | # |
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…get’s it. I don’t like her music all that much, but my respect for her just went way up.
Doug 2:53 am on June 13, 2000 | 0 | # |
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According to a report from the Conference Board, the longest economic expansion in U.S. history has peaked, due to the Fed’s interest rate hikes of the past year. We should now see the economy “stabilize.”

I suspect this means we’ll see the same thing we saw back at the end of the Bush administration, when things went briefly into free-fall, Bush got tossed out on his ass, and Greenspan and the boys made rush-rush interest-rate cuts to get things going again. To be fair, Greenspan has done alright, particularly for a bow-tie wearing old dinosaur of an economist, but I personally think the latest increases (and possible new increases they’re considering) are a gold-plated fuck-up. They went too far; they’ve over-corrected, and now we’ll have to hit a wall again before they realize thet their supposed inflationary signs really aren’t, at least not to the magnitude they think they are. Al, you did too much, too fast.