Magic MRK8I used to work in healthcare, and like many people involved in that field, I became quite cynical about its practice.  For one thing, modern medicine may be hi-tech, but people can treat it as if it was magic. Patients sometimes demand prescriptions from a doctor for medicines that they can get over the counter. The prescription is unnecessary, but it is “magic,” because it is from a doctor.  Doctors have been known to take x-rays, not for diagnostic purposes, but because the “magic” image impresses patients and helps ensure compliance.

What about so-called “medical-grade” computers? Do doctors really need one? What exactly is a “medical-grade” computer, and is it good for anything else besides healthcare?  Are they magic or hi-tech?

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UGV Market GrowthWintergreen Research is publicizing a finding that the “…first responder and military ground robot marketplace will expand at close to 20% annually for the rest of the decade.”  Furthermore, “Markets at $4.5 billion in 2013 reach $12.0 billion by 2019.”

This is welcome news for the developers of Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGV).  Robohub points out that this projection is consistent with a Markets and Markets report that predicts a 17.4% CAGR for the same time period. Of course, any headline in the media must be greeted with a certain degree of skepticism. Do these projections make sense?

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Big Brother and Privacy

Privacy in the news

If you follow the news, it seems that many technological advances – computers, internet, emails, cell phones, and even unmanned systems – have turned against us.  Instead of tools that serve, they have become instruments that watch and track.

Leaked documents revealed widespread government intrusion into emails and telephone metadata. Senators have raised suspicions about intrusive FBI investigative techniques.  States fear Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) and are restricting police access to them. Activists groups are agitating for privacy protections.

Even Superman is annoyed. In the movie Man of Steel, he trashes a UAV that was following him, while growling, “You can’t find out where I hang up my cape.”

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PrivacyEye spy
I was having dinner with a new acquaintance when an Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) bumped my foot. I looked down and saw a radio-controlled toy.

“Oh, don’t mind that,” said my host.  “That’s just my son playing.”

“He plays too much with that thing,” groused the boy’s father. “What really bothers me is that it has a camera.  I’m don’t like being spied on in my own home.” Read more

handheld controllerOriginally, only the IT guy was supposed to attend the trade show.  He had a tech background and frequently doubled as a purchasing agent. However, the police sergeant had performed Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) missions in the military. The chief thought the experienced, older man could bring insight to the department’s process for acquiring an Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV)…

Read the rest of the article about handheld controllers here.

hot laptopThe hot days of summer are associated with swimming, BBQs, and other good times.  However, it is no fun when your laptop overheats.  Here are a couple of things to do when your computer becomes too hot to handle: Read more

UGVs-resized-600AEODRS in the spotlight
All eyes in the Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) community are on the Advanced Explosive Ordnance Disposal Robot System (AEODRS) program. An important RFP for the increment-1(small robot for dismounted operations) is expected soon, and everyone wants a piece of the action if not the whole shebang itself.

Several things make AEODRS especially attractive to Defense vendors.  For one thing, in a time of sequestration and other budget pressures, it is one of the few fully funded Department of Defense (DoD) UGV development programs around.  Secondly, it is arguably the most important.

Read the rest of the article here.

This article is a second in a series.  To read “Part I:  It’s an iPad world, not Windows PC at work, tablets at home8’s” and the article in full, click here.

 

The PC is not dead; it’s just not at home

With 300 million sales this year, it may be a bit premature to mourn the passing of PCs.  What the decline in PC sales really signifies, some argue, is the death of the home desktop. Take a look at these Business Insider illustrations:

 

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The decline of PC

Way back in the antediluvian ages of 2010, when everyone thought the “Harlem Shake” was IDC PC sales declinesomething you drink, Apple introduced the iPad.  Nobody, even Apple, really knew how the market would react.  After all people already had smartphones, laptops, netbooks, and the old standby, the desktop PC.  Did folks really want another form factor?

Turns out they did. Tablets sales took off, while PC sales stagnated.  As the above chart from International Data Corp (IDC) demonstrates, the first quarter of 2013 reported a 14% drop in PC shipments, falling below 80 million units for the first time since 2009.  This is the worst quarterly report since IDC began tracking PC shipments in 1994. Read more

I once read a quote from a futurist that many distinctions that we currently take forcar granted will be not be valid in the future. Things that seem as different as day and night will be indistinguishable. Day and night, for example. The proliferation of night vision and other sensor technologies will cause future generations to have radically different views about the level of privacy traditionally offered by the cloak of night. Another distinction that is already blurred is the one between manned and unmanned vehicles.  Read full article here.