Acroname Technologies

http://www.acroname.com/technology.html

Fwd: THIS SOUNDS GOOD TO ME !!!

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From: Hap 
Date: Mon, Jul 23, 2012 at 9:03 PM
Subject: THIS SOUNDS GOOD TO ME !!!
To:

Warren Buffett, in a recent interview with CNBC, offers one of the best quotes about the debt ceiling: "I could end the deficit in 5 minutes," he told CNBC. "You just pass a law that says that anytime there is a deficit of more than 3% of GDP, all sitting members of Congress are ineligible for re-election. The 26th amendment (granting the right to vote for 18 year-olds) took only 3 months & 8 days to be ratified! Why? Simple! The people demanded it. That was in 1971 - before computers, e-mail, cell phones, etc. Of the 27 amendments to the Constitution, seven (7) took one (1) year or less to become the law of the land - all because of public pressure. Warren Buffet is asking each addressee to forward this email to a minimum of twenty people on their address list; in turn ask each of those to do likewise. In three days, most people in The United States of America will have the message. This is one idea that really should be passed around. Congressional Reform Act of 2012 1. No Tenure / No Pension. A Congressman/woman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they're out of office. 2. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security. All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the American people. It may not be used for any other purpose. 3. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do. 4. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%. 5. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people. 6. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people. 7. All contracts with past and present Congressmen/women are void effective 12/1/12. The American people did not make this contract with Congressmen/women. Congress made all these contracts for themselves. Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, so ours should serve their term(s), then go home and back to work. If each person contacts a minimum of twenty people then it will only take three days for most people (in the U.S. ) to receive the message. Don't you think it's time? THIS IS HOW YOU FIX CONGRESS! If you agree, pass it on. If not, delete. You are one of my 20+ - Please keep it going, and thanks

Pointman Tactical Robot (SUGV)

http://www.ara.com/robotics/Small-Unmanned-Ground-Vehicle.html

FishPi: Raspberry Pi Powered Autonomous Boat To Cross the Ocean - Slashdot

http://linux.slashdot.org/story/12/06/27/154242/fishpi-raspberry-pi-powered-autonomous-boat-to-cross-the-ocean

Google on 1994 copy of NCSA Mosaic

Found an Old copy of NCSA Mosaic, runs great on Windows XP

Pointed it at google, nothing but a mess.  It's amazing how it seems to work on almost nothing these days. 

Neuro-Spelling, by Brain Scan

Typing with thoughts alone.

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July 7th, 2012 Neuro-Spelling, by Brain Scan - Ideas Market - WSJ Posted about 14 hours ago by Billy Ethridge to Stroke Revelations By Christopher Shea Current Biology In a new communication system that makes use of fMRI scanners, letters of the alphabet were linked to specific mental exercises. Cutting-edge technology is already helping conscious people trapped in non-functioning bodies manipulate robotic arms and computer cursors. But researchers in the Netherlands have just announced a lower-tech approach that, with minimal training—and making use of fMRI scanners that are common in hospitals—lets such patients communicate right away. It involves linking mental activities to the letters of the alphabet. Depending on the letter they wish to signal, patients performed one of three mental tasks: They mentally traced a simple figure (a star, for example), multiplied numbers, or recited text. By varying when they began these tasks as well as the duration, the participants could "sign" all 26 letters (plus a space). Software reading the brain-scan data guessed the intended letter correctly, on the first try, more than 80% of the time—and the letter was among the computer's top three suggestions better than 95% of the time. The rate of communication was roughly one minute per letter. Participants responded easily to simple questions, including "What is your hobby?" ("Photography"), as well as follow-ups ("What did you photograph last?" "My home"). Other techniques exist for achieving similar results, including ones that directly read electrical impulses through the scalp, but not all patients can master them, said Bettina Sorger, of the department of cognitive neuroscience, at Maastricht University, a co-author of the paper. Needless to say, successfully sending a message would immediately establish that a paralyzed person retained cognitive functioning (although, importantly, the failure to send one could not be taken as proof of the absence of consciousness). Source: "A Real-Time fMRI-Based Spelling Device Immediately Enabling Robust Motor-Independent Communication," Bettina Sorger, Joel Reithler, Brigitte Dahmen, and Rainer Goebel, Current Biology (July 24) Via Scientific American via blogs.wsj.com

Scientists take mind-controlled robot for a stroll (video) -- Engadget

http://www.engadget.com/2012/07/06/scientists-take-mind-controlled-robot-for-a-stroll-video/?m=false

Giddyup, Robot Doggies! Autonomous Soldiers Square Off at Army Robotics Rodeo | Danger Room | Wired.com

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/07/robotics-rodeo

Open machine design as compared to open-source software

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_design

Great stuff, with the flood of new 3D printers, people will be able to make their own devices at home. Granted the general consumer will probably never do this, but there will be a growing community of people who will reinvent products as we understand it today.  It will allow for a rapid evolution of physical objects that can now evolve at software speeds. 

The implications of this for mechanical things like cars and bicycles will be profound , but what will be even more profound will be the evolution of robotic devices. Devices of complexity well beyond what any small company or hobbyist or manager in some corporation would ever dare attempt.
Devices with millions of moving parts will not be a challenge, they will be printed already assembled.


It be open designs free or inexpensive off the Internet where the hardest part will be choosing which one to print.


It will take almost no effort to print one any more then it is today to make a photocopy down at Kinko's or if your own your own printer, simply checking the ink and pressing the print button.



Remember how is was to make a copy of a paper before photocopies and printers with mechanical type writers? How much of an improvement we have now with scanners and printers.

Well the level of improvement for reproduction of mechanical devices is starting to experience that same leap but this is a much larger improvement over current machining technology. This is very much like stepping up from monks with years of study and training making hand coped manuscripts leaping straight to inexpensive personal color photo quality printers.

The speed and ease in which you can reproduce prototypes, design and best yet even evolve them in a virtual world will be astonishing.  Creature will literally be able to walk out of a game like spore to walking across your kitchen table in a few hours. 

'Wearable Computing Will Be the Norm,' Says Google Glass Team - Slashdot

http://mobile.slashdot.org/story/12/07/01/0553247/wearable-computing-will-be-the-norm-says-google-glass-team