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Why Silicon Valley Is Winning the Robocar Race | Bloomberg news

Posted on March 18, 2013 by Sci Fi Engineer

Magazine ad, America’s Independent Electric Light and Power Companies

Why Silicon Valley Is Winning the Robocar Race

By Virginia Postrel Mar 17, 2013 6:30 PM ET

Good short piece, I think it’s pretty obvious but needed saying. Articles out of ‘Detroit’ talk about decades, about lawyers killing it, about the joy of driving, no the joy of striving. In fact this is another area where differential change is required, relative change, change suited to the specific here and now of the individual or local group, not society writ totalitarian.

Even the conservative Swiss are going to space.

Posted on March 17, 2013 by Sci Fi Engineer

Aviation Week & Space Technology Ares Blog discussion on new space access company.

It’s been the same ever since, except Worse!

Posted on March 17, 2013 by Sci Fi Engineer

From EDN(electronic Design News) a fascinating history of a WWII bomber remote control gunsight, and it’s failure, repeatedly, while the bureaucrats insisted on pushing it forward. Great things were done during WWII but not without cost and not without clearly showing the strengths an weaknesses of the bureaucratic ‘blue model’ way of doing complex programs (at the time the only practical method of management.)

Future of 3D Printing | Machine Design and the MRRF

Posted on March 16, 2013 by Sci Fi Engineer

Good article on close in work on and using 3D Printing in Macine Design, a favorite of mine since the ’70s (my dad’s read at home magazine.)

Went to the Midwest ReRap Faire in Elkhart today, cool gear, lots of info, lots of enthusiasts.
Some photos:

Interestingly Peculiar Technology

Posted on March 15, 2013 by Sci Fi Engineer

From AWST Ares blog, (read the whole thing) a rescue robot-drone, actually a bit disturbing looking, but then again it’s rare that a specialist-optimized machine ends up looking like something you’d like to drink a bear with.

Electric Competition Dirt Bike | SAE

Posted on March 15, 2013 by Sci Fi Engineer

SAE tech article, interesting, 30 minutes of competitive performance! What’s that doodling back and forth to work?

Wonderful

Posted on March 13, 2013 by Sci Fi Engineer

From Wired

Carolina Wren
Image: Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus), Study for Havell pl. 78, 1822. Watercolor, graphite, pastel, charcoal, gouache, and black ink with selective glazing on paper, laid on card; 18 13/16 x 11 3/4 in. Courtesy of the New York Historical Society.

How to Choose an LED Light Bulb | MIT Technology Review

Posted on March 9, 2013 by Sci Fi Engineer

How to Choose an LED Light Bulb | MIT Technology Review.

Useful article, I’m glad LED’s have caught up so quickly, compact fluorescent seemed like a dumb stopgap before, now it’s like some kind of gov’mnt boondoggle or something.

Will Anyone Create a Killer App for Google Glass? | MIT Technology Review

Posted on March 9, 2013 by Sci Fi Engineer

Will Anyone Create a Killer App for Google Glass? | MIT Technology Review.

Yes! The question is how broad the appeal is. For certain jobs, medical care providers, law enforcement, field journalism, meter readers, etc it seems natural but for more general use? Shopping, running, biking, skiing, … anything where recording and displaying data while being in the world seems natural.

In the long run the tech in glass would appear suited to supplant – or subsume – other interfaces, when the camera can watch your fingers interact with a projected ‘underlay’ and let you type, write, talk-edit, etc while capturing audio,video, local, context. To do this a high speed ultra low power, ultra high bandwidth link to a cellphone / superphone type device and then the web will be needed for a half decade or so.

The combination of wrist, ear, eye and belt/pocket modules of your personal retinue plus remote computing will capture the world around you in a 24/7 data-log.