Blogs
Forget 3D, say hello to 4D
March 6, 2013 12:08 pm | by Kasey Panetta, Associate Editor | Blogs | CommentsLeave it to MIT to come out with 4D printing, just as 3D printing seems to be really hitting its stride. They can’t just leave well enough alone, can they? We’ve talked a little bit about the potential of 3D printing and the pretty amazing things they can do, so now we’re moving on to 4D.
USA claims dubious honor: World's top spammer
March 5, 2013 5:29 pm | by Jason Lomberg, Technical Editor | Blogs | CommentsThat slick email from the Nigerian prince promising fabulous riches just might originate from Peoria, USA. According to research from SophosLabs, the United States of America – home of baseball, apple pie, and spam, apparently – sent 18.3% of the world’s junk mail.
Marketing schemes through the Google [looking] glass
March 5, 2013 9:14 am | by Chris Fox, Associate Editor, PD&D | Blogs | CommentsLast June, Google announced a unique device that is supposed to incorporate their technology into your everyday life. In fact, their sights seem to be set on invading every moment your eyes are open with convenient updates, recording capabilities, and, of course, an easy-to-use search engine.
Obama’s brain project: A hall of mirrors?
March 5, 2013 9:04 am | by Karl Stephan, Consulting Engineer, Texas State University, San Marcos | Blogs | CommentsOne of the famous line drawings of the artist M. C. Escher portrays a realistically drawn hand holding a pencil. The line drawn by the pen turns out to be the cuff of a shirt sleeve, from which emerges a second hand ... which grows out of the paper somehow and holds a pencil, whose line is the cuff of a shirt sleeve, from which emerges the first hand.
A drag on windpower
March 1, 2013 5:02 pm | by M. Simon, Technical Contributor | Blogs | CommentsECN recently published an article from Eurekalert! on the limits of large scale wind power. I thought it might be a good idea to go to the source to find out if the posted article reflected the actual paper. The first thing I found without any effort at all (it was in the abstract) is that the Eureka people got the previous maximum-estimated wind source number wrong.
Agita over 3D printed guns is absurd
March 1, 2013 4:26 pm | by Jason Lomberg, Technical Editor | Articles | CommentsHobbyists, tinkers, and DIYers are the unsung heroes of our industry — "hackers" in the original sense of the word. But conflating "hobbyists" with "guns" causes fits of hysteria. And it’s entirely unwarranted. The handwringing over the imagined capability to print 3D guns and the associated moral implications is absolutely absurd and betrays a basic misunderstanding of firearms and physics.
Top 10 must-read posts from February
March 1, 2013 3:12 pm | by Kasey Panetta, Associate Editor | Blogs | CommentsHere’s a rundown of the most read, most popular, most awesome articles on the web. Take a look at what you missed the first time around or check up on an old favorite to see the conversation in the comments. Keep checking out the Lead at www.ecnmag.com and follow us on Twitter @ecnonline for our most up-to-date articles.
Mayer’s memo ending telecommuting puts Yahoo in good company
March 1, 2013 12:27 pm | by Chris Warner, Executive Editor | Blogs | CommentsMarissa Mayer created quite a hornet’s nest when she issued a memo effectively ending the work-at-home option for Yahoo employees. In the memo, obtained by AllThingsD, Mayer writes, “To become the absolute best place to work, communication and collaboration will be important, so we need to be working side-by-side."
Why 3D-printable guns are a terrible idea
March 1, 2013 9:45 am | by Kasey Panetta, Associate Editor | Blogs | CommentsMention the words "3D printed guns" and you’ve got an instant, increasingly heated debate on your hands. When you consider there were 16 mass shootings—defined as a shooting with multiple, random victims—in 2012 with at least 88 people dead including children, it’s definitely a topic worth discussing. My take? No one needs a 3D printed gun or the ability to create one.
Big Brother makes our rational choices less rational
February 28, 2013 3:13 pm | by Chris Warner, Executive Editor | Articles | CommentsWhile writing my February 2013 column about EDRs (event data recorders, AKA “black boxes”), I came across an article on the same topic (http://bit.ly/12YX4Fe) by one of my colleagues. She commented on the reservations I share with many others about the use of the data derived from the black boxes.
University of Washington EcoCAR 2 Team midpoint update
February 28, 2013 10:40 am | by Communications Manager, UW EcoCAR 2 Team | Blogs | CommentsWe’re now at the midpoint of Y2 of the 3 year EcoCAR 2 competition. In the last few months, the 2013 Chevy Malibu was disassembled– almost to the point of body-in-white. Further, much of the rear sub-frame was
Software patents are evil
February 28, 2013 10:08 am | by M. Simon, Technical Contributor | Blogs | CommentsI was planning to write about software patent trolls and was entering "software patents" in my search engine when it offered the suggestion "are evil" to complete the phrase. I'll buy that. So to encourage more traffic here, that is the title of this post. Yes. I have been blogging for quite some time.
Pass the Marketplace Fairness Act
February 27, 2013 3:35 pm | by Rex Solomon, Houston Chronicle | Blogs | CommentsOn July 1, 2012, online retail giant Amazon.com began collecting and remitting state sales taxes in Texas. As a small-business owner and president of Houston Jewelry, I can say from experience that this was cause for celebration in the Texas retail community.
Hydrogen fuel cells get a lift
February 27, 2013 9:16 am | by M. Simon, Technical Contributor | Blogs | CommentsI was reading one of the logistics magazines I regularly get and found out something amazing. By about 2020, roughly 80 percent of the lift trucks in America will be powered by hydrogen fuel cells. The fuel cell advantage is constant voltage output and longer continuous run time.
The greatest use of (bus stop) technology ever
February 21, 2013 3:13 pm | by Kasey Panetta, Associate Editor | Blogs | CommentsCompanies often struggle with how to incorporate new technology in a useful way, but Qualcomm knocked it out of the park this week with their new bus stop surprise. Qualcomm, a company that specializes in wireless technology, decided that they could use the combination of smart phones and boredom at bus stops
Do drone pilots deserve higher medal than combat vets?
February 20, 2013 3:32 pm | by Jason Lomberg, Technical Editor | Articles | CommentsSince when did waggling a joystick become more valorous than pulling a trigger? It hasn’t, you say? The newly-minted Distinguished Warfare Medal — created to honor cyberwarriors and drone pilots — would rank above the Bronze Star and Purple Heart, and the military community is incensed.
Re-understanding “integrated” supply chain
February 19, 2013 1:08 pm | by Alan Nicol, Executive Member, AlanNicolSolutions | Blogs | CommentsSomewhere along the way, it became the norm to give up control of component supply and call it “business improvement.” Re-think the standard mode of buying stuff from others if you can do it yourself.
Engineering the future: Do we know what we’re doing?
February 19, 2013 12:53 pm | by Karl Stephan, Consulting Engineer, Texas State University, San Marcos | Blogs | CommentsI assume many of my readers are either engineers or interested in engineering and its effects on society, so what I am about to say may surprise you. It is simply this: Engineers are playing a role in American society that may end American society as we have known it up to now. Let me explain.
Finding a needle in the solution
February 19, 2013 9:01 am | by M. Simon, Technical Contributor | Blogs | CommentsBack in 1968 when I was just starting out as a very junior engineer, I worked for Chromatronix designing sensors for and building High Pressure Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) equipment. In those days, "High Pressure" was 500 psi going up to 1,000 psi with research on 3,000 psi equipment well underway.
Paint Your Pizza turns MS Paint scribbles into ugly-looking pizzas
February 15, 2013 10:34 am | by Jason Lomberg, Technical Editor | Blogs | CommentsI never thought I’d say this, but I’m nauseated by pizza – this after taking a gander at Paint Your Pizza, a crowdsourcing site that allows you to turn amateur artwork into quasi-edible Neapolitan creations. I stress quasi-edible because I don’t think I could stomach any of these custom-designed "pizzas."
Manufacturing’s evolving workforce
February 14, 2013 2:39 pm | by Bob Dean, Executive Director, Business Transformation, Cisco | Blogs | CommentsPop culture references manufacturing as the factories of the 1800s or modern-day overseas sweatshops — full of mind-numbing, remedial tasks in dark and dingy factories. Today’s manufacturing environments tell a much different story: clean and safe environments with employees managing advanced machinery that drives innovation and productivity.
Stores are tracking your every move
February 14, 2013 2:11 pm | by Kasey Panetta, Associate Editor | Blogs | CommentsWhen you walk into a store, you basically expect that you’re going to be recorded on a security video and surreptitiously watched by sales associates lest you decide to steal anything. But did you ever stop to think what information the store is gleaning from your cell?
Iranian clown car flies ... with the help of Photoshop
February 14, 2013 11:06 am | by Jason Lomberg, Technical Editor | Blogs | CommentsTake that, free world! For all you naysayers out there who thought Iran’s clown car, er ... stealth fighter ... smelled a bit fishy, the Islamic Republic has the ultimate retort: a badly-Photoshopped image of the Qaher-313 set against stock photo #3.
Large-scale free WiFi is still a dream worth pursuing
February 13, 2013 3:34 pm | by Chris Warner, Executive Editor | Articles | CommentsSometimes, it seems our nation no longer aspires to great things. These days our astronauts hitch rides to the International Space Station on Soviet spacecraft, and just recently, the U.S. Postal Service — once the envy of the world — announced its intention to eliminate Saturday mail service.
What Walter Cronkite thought 2001 would look like
February 12, 2013 3:41 pm | by Kasey Panetta, Associate Editor | Blogs | CommentsPredictions about future technology are always interesting. Sometimes, the prediction is pretty mainstream, like a mobile phone. Other times they’re a little more ambitious. I’m still waiting for my flying car. But one thing is always guaranteed: Predictions about the future are always fun to watch decades later — particularly if they star Mr. Walter Cronkite.
