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Category Archives: Technology
Ham radio buffs turn hobby into emergency-related business
For years, whenever a disaster struck, Rick Johnson and David Kleber would volunteer their expertise as longtime amateur radio operators to keep the lines of communication open.
When Hurricane Katrina ravaged parts of Louisiana and Mississippi last month, the ham operators pitched in to help again, but this time their hobby had become a business, RemComm Inc.
Read (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
Behind Artificial Intelligence, a Squadron of Bright Real People
The five robots that successfully navigated a 132-mile course in the Nevada desert last weekend demonstrated the re-emergence of artificial intelligence, a technology field that for decades has overpromised and underdelivered.
Read (New York Times)
Better mousetrap builders
How small-time inventors – alone or in clubs – make widgets for fun (and maybe a profit).
Read (Christian Science Monitor)
Robot VW wins $2-million prize
It’s official, Stanley, the Volkswagen Touareg, won Grand Challenge race.
Read (Nature)
Text Searches Put the Operator on Hold
One of the coolest things about technology is discovering new ways to save a buck or two — in this case the $1.50 fee that some wireless phone carriers charge for each call to 411.
Read (Washington Post)
I never use 411, and it really irritates me when my wife uses it because I know it’s costing me money.
A Big Finish With No One At the Wheel
Four robotic vehicles finished the DARPA Grand Challenge Saturday and achieved a technological milestone by conquering steep drop-offs, obstacles and tunnels over a rugged 132-mile course without a single human command.
Read (AP via Washington Post)
What a difference a year makes.
Virginia Tech vehicles fail to reach
Despite losing the race, Tech won some bragging rights at the Grand Challenge.
The 2 Virginia Tech vehicles made it approximately 40 miles before breaking down.
Read (Roanoke Times)
Why Do-It-Yourself Photo Printing Doesn’t Add Up
Despite the efforts of manufacturers to convince consumers that
printing at home is fast, convenient and fun, the evidence shows that
many are tuning out the marketing.
Read (New York Times)
I’ve had my digital photos printed at Walgreens, Walmart, and Sam’s Club, and I’m getting ready to use Snapfish. I haven’t bought a photo printer yet, because it currently seems more economical to have them printed elsewhere.
2005 DARPA Grand Challenge Qualifying PhotoSet
Dan Homerick has 87 photos that were taken at the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge Qualifying event.
View (Flickr)
2005 DARPA Grand Challenge Finalists Have Been Announced
[DARPA](http://www.darpa.mil/) [announced](http://www.grandchallenge.org/downloads/NQE%20Final1.pdf “pdf Press Release”) the finalists for Saturday’s (10/8) [Grand Challenge](http://www.grandchallenge.org/).
Here’s the list of finalists:
| Team | Vehicle |
|---|---|
| Axion Racing (Westlake Village, Calif.) |
Grand Cherokee |
| Team Cajunbot (Lafayette, La.) |
6-wheel amphibious all-terrain vehicle |
| Team CalTech (Pasadena, Calif.) |
Ford E-350 Van |
| Team CIMAR (Gainesville, Fla.) |
Rock Crawler – base vehicle was custom built by Georgia All Terrain Monsters |
| Team Cornell (Ithaca, N.Y.) |
Vehicle is based on a military light strike vehicle. |
| Team DAD(Digital Auto Drive) (Morgan Hill, Calif.) |
2005 Toyota Tundra |
| Desert Buckeyes (Ohio State University, Columbus) |
Polaris Ranger 6×6 |
| Team ENSCO (Springfield, Va.) |
Custom-made desert racer |
| The Golem Group/UCLA (Los Angeles) |
2005 Dodge Ram 2500 |
| The Gray Team (Metairie, La.) |
2005 Ford Escape Hybrid |
| Insight Racing (Cary, N.C.) |
Chevrolet Suburban with a Linux brain |
| Intelligent Vehicle Safety Systems I (Littleton, Colo.) |
Ford F-250 Super Duty |
| Mitre Meteorites (McLean, Va.) |
Ford Explorer Sport Trac |
| MonsterMoto (Cedar Park, Tex.) |
ATV |
| Mojavaton (Grand Junction, Colo.) |
2001 Nissan Xterra |
| Princeton University (Princeton, N.J.) |
GMC Sierra |
| Red Team (Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh) |
High Mobility Multi-purpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV) |
| Red Team Too (Carnegie-Mellon) |
1999 H1 Hummer |
| SciAutonics/Auburn Engineering (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) |
ATV made by ATV Corporation |
| Stanford Racing Team (Palo Alto, Calif.) |
Diesel-powered Volkswagen Touareg R5 |
| Team Terra Max (Oshkosh, Wis.) |
Oshkosh’s Medium Tactical Vehicle Replacement (MTVR) |
| Virginia Tech Team Rocky (Blacksburg,Va.) |
XRT-1500 Club Car |
| Virginia Tech Grand Challenge Team (Blacksburg,Va.) |
4WD Utility Cart |
Unfortunately, Charlottesville’s [Team Jefferson](http://www.perronerobotics.com/dgc/) did [not](http://www.perronerobotics.com/dgc/index_news.htm) make the cut.
Smaller Video Producers Seek Audiences on Net
Video delivered over the Internet is shaping up as a way for smaller
producers to reach an audience without having to cut deals with studios
and networks.
Read (New York Times)
Text Hackers Could Jam Cellphones, a Paper Says
Hackers could take down cellular networks by inundating their popular text-messaging services with the equivalent of spam, computer security researchers said.
Read (New York Times)
A denial-of-service attack against the cell phone network…
Mars-bound instruments detect Arctic microbes
The discovery of living and fossilised bacteria in an icy volcano shows that the same equipment could detect life on Mars.
Read (New Scientist)
Big Brother: Should it be in your car?
A growing number of states are grappling with a new privacy dilemma: what to do about cars that can spy on their owners. At least two-thirds of new vehicles, including those built by GM and Ford, come equipped with event data recorders — “black boxes” that can tell tales even after a car has been totaled. The recorders track speed, engine revolutions per minute, braking and seat belt usage and other data in the moments before and after impact.
Read (Detroit News)