The vote re-defined the metric system for the first time since 1983. The new system completely upends the historical methods for setting standards using physical objects. Previous systems have used things like the notches on a metal rod to set a distance standard. Up until the vote, the kilogram had been based on a platinum-iridium cylinder stored under lock and key in France.
Scientists have now scrapped all physical objects from the system. The units are instead based on fundamental constants of nature. For example, the meter has been defined in terms of the speed of light. This means that as long as you can measure the speed of light, you can create a meter stick; you don’t need access to a special object. Using this principle, astronauts on Mars could theoretically make a precise tape measure from scratch.
Each issue of our digital publication Technology Innovation features space technology innovators and project developments across NASA, highlighting the American inventors, entrepreneurs, and application engineers who have transformed space exploration technologies into products that benefit the Nation.
The newest edition of the digital publication is now available in the iTunes store as an iPhone or iPad app as well as in the Google Play store as an Android app. A desktop viewer is also available.
Infor has over the last few years introduced us to many iconic neighborhoods in New York City – the location of its headquarters and the site of its user event, Inforum. This year Inforum moved to Washington, DC and I asked my wife to join me in the city for the weekend. Our Congresswoman requested tickets for us for a tour of the US Capitol and the White House. Our daughter had a car accident (she’s fine) so we ended up cancelling the weekend, but there was still plenty of Washington pomp and history to enjoy during Inforum.
The event was held at the Walter E. Washington Center, which traces history back to 1874. Over the decades it has seen many Presidential Balls and events.
Inforum kicked off with the famous Howard University marching band – “Showtime”. Infor CEO Charles Phillips told the audience people line up to witness the band play in what he called the “fifth quarter”.
Infor organized for analysts a tour of Washington monuments. Dion, our tour guide and ex-Marine brought Washington to life with lots of tidbits of US history including that of Marian Anderson's historic performance at the Lincoln Memorial in 1939. She inspired a young MLK to make his even more impactful speech there in 1963. Eleanor Roosevelt, the First Lady, broke through race barriers and helped Marian get that platform. As we walked by Blair House Dion told of the time foreign leaders would stay at the White House. Nocturnal Churchill liked to wake up FDR at awkward hours. Eleanor made sure on future trips such visiting dignitaries had a 'hotel' of their own:)
I spent a couple of hours at the Smithsonian Museum of American History. I am a big fan of American history, especially in the 1800s, and I was thrilled to see a replica of the compass Lewis and Clark used on their epic frontier trek; an ingot from the 1849 Gold Rush; Winchester, the majestic horse that Union General Phil Sheridan rode in many a Civil War battle, the replica of the golden spike used to finish the transcontinental railroad in 1869 and many other artifacts.
The final poignant moment for me came during the opening keynote. In these days where it seems like Washington politicians cannot agree on anything, Inforum managed to get two extreme ends of the political spectrum – executives from Koch Brothers (an investor in Infor, and a customer of its products) and Van Jones, the TV commentator - back to back on the same stage
This blog has celebrated innovative products, people and places for 15 years. In the last couple of years with seemingly so many people unhappy and angry, I have become lot more observant of products, people and places that also make you feel good even if momentarily. I encountered several in the two days at the SuccessFactors event in Vegas last week.
It was held at the Aria, which is one of my favorite places to stay in the city. Unlike other Vegas properties where you are subterranean most of the time, the Aria is naturally lit and has plenty of foliage inside, even on the walls.
As I got into the elevator to go to the conference, Do for love was playing. For four decades, this Bobby Caldwell hit has never failed to instantly lift me up. So, I am humming the tune as I walk up to the conference desk. And Monet, already smiling as she checks me in, asked me what the song is. And I gladly played it for her on my iPhone and made her smile even more.
Bill McDermott, CEO of SAP kicked off the event with a fireside chat. And watching him at his exuberant best from the audience, I sent him an email “I think unbelievably you are even more positive after your (eye) accident. “ He responds a bit later “Thank you for kind words, Vinnie. Gratitude is everything!”
Gratitude - what a great emotion.
That evening a few of us had dinner at Michael Mina’s Bardot Brasserie. I don’t think I have had a more heavenly salad than theirs with roasted beets, arugula and goat cheese.
Arianna Huffington is known for her tough love of hyper executives like Elon Musk and Travis Kalanick. So it was refreshing to see her send an audience of HR execs into stitches as she talked about wellness and counseled they buy a bed and blanky for their phones so the owner and object both sleep undisturbed through the night. And it’s available in mahogany on Amazon, she helpfully added!
The piece de resistance was Michael J. Fox. How he has survived through Parkinson’s and spinal surgery and continues to humorously talk about it all (”J” is for genius he deadpanned). The audience gave him a standing ovation at the beginning and ending, and in that adoration I guess we felt less guilty laughing at all the jokes he made including one where hockey great Bobby Orr allowed him to score.
As I was walking away. thinking how well Fox and McDermott have handled the lemons life has dealt then, I run into Monet again. This time she is directing crowds. She recognizes me, smiles brightly again and says “You know what, you made me go listen to Bobby Caldwell at home”.
Sure other airlines can show similar, but the anniversary of two incidents reminded me Southwest seems to be able to show off almost routinely where their staff go over and above the call of duty.
Jon Carmichael, a professional photographer, took more than 1,200 photographs of the total eclipse in a two-minute burst last August 21 from Seat 1A on a flight from Portland to St. Louis. He shared recently a photo taken over the Snake River a year after processing all those raw photos.
How he got that window seat in Row 1 when he was originally assigned C18 – an almost guaranteed middle seat in the back - and the 180 degree plane turns the pilots did to allow him to get the best angles are where the Southwest crew contribution came in as the video below shows.
The other incident was last August 27. Hurricane Harvey had shut down Houston Hobby airport and surrounding highways. During a brief break in the weather, Southwest operated 5 “rescue flights” to evacuate nearly 500 stranded passengers and crew. It also got them the opportunity to move planes which would otherwise have been stuck for several days.
Everything about the flights (WN8922 through WN8926) was unusual – not to mention nerve-wracking - given the Hurricane bands they flew through and the flooding around the runways. Here is one passenger’s description
“We received hand written boarding passes on paper and carbon. The took down our names and DOB on a yellow legal pad while standing in line at TSA.
…the pilots had to fill out paperwork while we were waiting to depart to be able legally fly us to Dallas. Finally, they had to manually calculate the weight of the plane to balance before we could safely depart. …They said they would land us at an FBO [Fixed Base Operator] and then bus us over to the main terminal.“
It’s tough to wow Masayoshi Son with a bargain, but during a meeting this spring, Brandless left the SoftBank Group chief executive officer a bit flabbergasted. Yes, the startup’s founders assured the billionaire, every product he picked up from the table, from the extra-virgin olive oil to the carbon-steel eyelash curler, was just $3. The trick: It’s all store brand, and there’s no alternative. The site will sell only one kind of toothpaste, or coaster, or tree-free toilet paper. Hope you like it!
ZDNet has a gallery which will take you down memory lane. Artifacts include the The Pocketronic shares billing with the Sanyo ICC-0081 and the Sharp QT-8B for bringing pocket calculators to students, engineers, and scientists the world over. The innovation (in 1970), as it is still today in our portable devices, was the ability to produce low-powered chips and reliable rechargeable batteries in a form-factor that allowed for portability.
In the new heist movie, the Sandra Bullock character tells her gang “Somewhere out there there’s an 8-year-old girl dreaming of becoming a criminal. You’re doing this for her.”
No, don’t take your daughter to the movie to try and turn her criminal, but have her instead work on improving many of the technologies in the movie. (BTW it is rated PG-13 so use your discretion before offering to take her)
There is all kinds of tech including a scanner built into eyeglasses, a 3D printer to produce a zirconium replica of the necklace being targeted, a robotic duck which traverses a moat, lasers to protect the jewelry, hacking to re-position security cameras to create a “blind spot”, and an opener for a proprietary magnetic lock.
After the movie, tell your daughter the realities – today’s 3D printing would not create a replica which would fool a Cartier inspector or even that at your local jeweler. Transmitting a highly detailed 3D spec of the necklace would take ages on today’s cellular networks, even if you move out of the cellar as they do in the movie. That hacking takes much more than convincing a security pro to fall for a phishing ploy even though he is a Wheaten Terrier lover on Facebook. Explain to her that if ex-Mossad agents and Pontifical Swiss Guards are part of your elite security team, defeating them would not that easy. That it would be difficult with our money laundering laws and technology to actually be able to easily convert stolen goods to cash in the bank. There's plenty of Hollywood poetic license.
But more importantly, get her excited about all these technologies and how they can be used for good and how they are likely to improve over time. There is plenty of glitz in the movie around the tech. Show her geeks can be glamorous!
Metric System 2.0
The vote re-defined the metric system for the first time since 1983. The new system completely upends the historical methods for setting standards using physical objects. Previous systems have used things like the notches on a metal rod to set a distance standard. Up until the vote, the kilogram had been based on a platinum-iridium cylinder stored under lock and key in France.
Scientists have now scrapped all physical objects from the system. The units are instead based on fundamental constants of nature. For example, the meter has been defined in terms of the speed of light. This means that as long as you can measure the speed of light, you can create a meter stick; you don’t need access to a special object. Using this principle, astronauts on Mars could theoretically make a precise tape measure from scratch.
Wired
November 19, 2018 in Globalization and Technology, Industry Commentary | Permalink | Comments (0)