John K. Davis, Independent Distributor, SendOutCards

Human or Robot?

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The September issue of Popular Science has an interesting article, The Man Who Mistook His Girlfriend for a Robot, about humaniod robotic heads: open the article.

OpenCourseWare

Something important has been published online. If you want open access to one of the most prestigious educational institutions in the United States, it is now available. MIT OpenCourseWare is a free, open, publication of MIT Course Materials. In time, it will contain all information available for every course taught at the institution; every lecture, every handout, and every quiz; all online; for free. The project is in beta, but it already has much to offer. Check it out:

http://ocw.mit.edu/index.html

Park With Your Eyes Shut

I laughed when I saw this article:

Wired News: Park Without Dings -- or Drivers

So many people struggle with parallel parking. My guess is that Toyota will get a lot of great publicity for adding this technology to one of its production models and that we will see the feature elsewhere quickly.

On the Prowl

I feel underemployed. Scopeware is great and I have had a good time focusing on it over the past year, but I need something more. Scopeware will continue to play an important role in my business and I will continue to serve my customers and pursue new customers who will benefit from this simple, elegant knowledge management system. It is time to embellish my technology advocacy.

Elder Assistance

Are you feeling old? My gray hair is beginning to thin a bit and my memory is not as sharp as it once was. But, it is nice to know that I may soon be able to extend my capacity to get around by wearing an exoskeleton.

That’s right. A number of Japanese companies are preparing to market an exoskeleton robot that fits around a person’s legs and hips. The device assists aged or physically disabled people walk, get up stairs or seat themselves to relax without a chair. For more details see this story at Yahoo.

Elder Assistance

Are you feeling old? My gray hair is beginning to thin a bit and my memory is not as sharp as it once was. But, it is nice to know that I may soon be able to extend my capacity to get around by wearing an exoskeleton.

That’s right. A number of Japanese companies are preparing to market an exoskeleton robot that fits around a person’s legs and hips. The device assists aged or physically disabled people walk, get up stairs or seat themselves to relax without a chair. For more details see this story at Yahoo.

Saviors

My RAID system went down today preventing me from having access to my personal PC (thank God for Scopeware and my wireless phone which enabled me to function without much difficulty). Sheng Q. Ling and his brother, Shen, came over, opened the case, slipped in a new RAID controler and I was back in business 15 minutes after they arrived. If you need a good computer and network technician, call Sheng at (858) 583-3246, or shoot him a quick email.

Royballs Visit

Richard and Laura Royball and their daughter, Agatha, stopped by last night. Laura is Janet's niece. The Royballs are visiting the Allens in Newport Beach for a few days and Joan drove them to San Diego for a day at Sea World. We rendezvoused at Brittany Tower, then walked over to Hob Nob Hill restaurant for a delicious dinner.

Richard and Laura will be hosting a Frahm family reunion next summer at their conference center high in the mountains above Pecos, New Mexico. We were there a few years ago and are looking forward to gathering with loved ones there again.

Business Week

This week's issue of Business Week magazine is all about The Future of Technology. Most of the articles are obviously taking a purely business slant on this topic, but the breadth of covereage is impressive.

Reason

Reason Online posted a very interesting article this morning. Ronald Bailey argues that 200 years of rapid economic growth in the West flows directly from the fact that access to scientific knowledge is available to most of the people in this culture. He also argues that once a person benefits from such knowledge, they can become powerful enemies to further technological change because they then have a vested interest in the status quo.

In a free market the best way to impede technological progress is to arrange things so that decisions about new technologies are made in political arenas. The defining political conflict of the 21st century is shaping up to be the battle over the future of technology.