NASA is reportedly planning to send a robot into orbit to repair the Hubble space telescope. Plans won't be finalized until next summer, but the leading robot candidate is "Dextre," developed by the Canadian Space Agency. Hubble needs its batteries and gyroscopes replaced; once a repair is complete, Hubble should be good for another five years.
Wednesday, August 11, 2004
Tuesday, August 10, 2004
Killing the Golden Goose... Over and Over
An interesting post in the Manyworlds business blog discusses what could be called the "golden goose" paradox in talent management. When an organization experiences a downturn, it's usually the most creative people, as well as those most comfortable with risk and ambugiuty, who are the first ones out the door. The post states that these are the people must vulnerable to layoffs, which is true. But in my experience, these folks are also the ones most likely to leave voluntarily. An organization's "best and brightest" typically have the most career options, the most marketable skills, and the best connections. They are also politically savvy enough to see trouble coming early and take action. They are often the highest paid people, and know they are the most vulnerable to cuts due to sheer bean-counting. Or, they simply get bored once all the cool projects get cancelled.
The paradox is that, when the time comes for a turnaround, the people an organization needs to have on board the most are the people most likely to be long gone. These are the visionaries, the ones most likely to see and "get" future trends. The history of business is filled with these kinds of stories, and too many businesses have declined because they failed to view their people as a long-term investment. Yet it happens over and over...
The paradox is that, when the time comes for a turnaround, the people an organization needs to have on board the most are the people most likely to be long gone. These are the visionaries, the ones most likely to see and "get" future trends. The history of business is filled with these kinds of stories, and too many businesses have declined because they failed to view their people as a long-term investment. Yet it happens over and over...
Monday, August 9, 2004
X Prize contestant suffers setback
A team that had developed a low-cost suborbital rocket suffered a setback Sunday when a test vehicle exploded 1,000 feet in the air. The rocket, Rubicon 1, was built by Seattle-based Space Transport Corp. at a cost of $20,000.
Space Transport Corp. is a contestant for the X Prize, which will be awarded to "the first organization to successfully launch a privately financed, reusable craft that makes a suborbital flight 62 miles high twice within two weeks while carrying a pilot and weight equivalent to two other people." SpaceShipOne became the first private manned craft to make a suborbital flight this past June.
See a discussion on Slashdot for more information...
Space Transport Corp. is a contestant for the X Prize, which will be awarded to "the first organization to successfully launch a privately financed, reusable craft that makes a suborbital flight 62 miles high twice within two weeks while carrying a pilot and weight equivalent to two other people." SpaceShipOne became the first private manned craft to make a suborbital flight this past June.
See a discussion on Slashdot for more information...
New life for phone booths
With seemingly everyone owning a cell phone these days, what's to become of the old phone booths? One is hard-pressed to find an old-fashioned phone booth today, and those that still exist are often vandalized or victims of neglect.
British Telecom (BT) has at least one solution for revitalizing its phone booth investment. In North Wales, BT is converting many phone booths into broadband Internet kiosks. If the effort is successful, we may see similar initiatives Stateside. Read more here...
Also, Australian-based Telstra is looking to retrofit 33,000 pay phones with WiFi hardware, as a cost-effective way to create WiFi hotspots in metropolitan areas. Telstra is part of an international telecom alliance that includes BT and T-Mobile.
British Telecom (BT) has at least one solution for revitalizing its phone booth investment. In North Wales, BT is converting many phone booths into broadband Internet kiosks. If the effort is successful, we may see similar initiatives Stateside. Read more here...
Also, Australian-based Telstra is looking to retrofit 33,000 pay phones with WiFi hardware, as a cost-effective way to create WiFi hotspots in metropolitan areas. Telstra is part of an international telecom alliance that includes BT and T-Mobile.
Metal Rubber
Blacksburg, VA-based NanoSonic has its hands full with its newest innovation, Metal Rubber. Seems that, according to Popular Science, all kinds of companies are querying them asking about how to possibly use Metal Rubber in their products.
What's Metal Rubber, and what's so great about it? The substance is a film-like polymer that can withstand extremely high temperatures and all sorts of physical abuse. It even conducts electricity, which makes it a candidate for flexible circuitry and even "smart" clothes.
Metal Rubber won't be ready for the marketplace for another year at least, and before then, NanoSonic needs to develop a better way to mass-product it. Currently, manufacturing it is a painstaking task; making a one-foot-square piece takes up to three days.
Read the article in Popular Science here...
What's Metal Rubber, and what's so great about it? The substance is a film-like polymer that can withstand extremely high temperatures and all sorts of physical abuse. It even conducts electricity, which makes it a candidate for flexible circuitry and even "smart" clothes.
Metal Rubber won't be ready for the marketplace for another year at least, and before then, NanoSonic needs to develop a better way to mass-product it. Currently, manufacturing it is a painstaking task; making a one-foot-square piece takes up to three days.
Read the article in Popular Science here...
Friday, August 6, 2004
Are we approaching a major political shift?
Much has been made of how the upcoming U.S. presidential election portends a major shift in U.S. politics. Some have predicted a fundamental realignment on the magnitude of 1980 (which ushered in the "Reagan Revolution") or even 1932 (the year FDR took office). Although I think a lot of these predictions are exaggerated, mainly because of the unique nature of this election season, major change is on the horizon... perhaps even greater than mere party realignment.
Former Howard Dean campaign manager Joe Trippe has written a perceptive article on the subject for MSNBC.com, citing disaffection with the major parties dating at least back to Ross Perot's independent candidacy in 1992. Parties and voters are locked in a vicious cycle that is causing everyone to lose faith in the political process: candidates, in a desperate bid for funds and support, pander to the most extreme and demanding elements in their parties, disaffection mainstream voters, and forcing candidates to go even further outside the mainstream for support. Trippi's assertion is that political parties risk extinction if they continue this pattern.
An even more extreme view of the future of politics is voiced by Harvard law professor James Moore. In his essay "The Second Superpower Rears Its Beautiful Head", Moore describes the rise of "emergent democracy" that uses technology to mobilize citizens in a way that's a truer form of democracy than anything we have today. We've seen the use of the Web, e-mail, text messaging, blogging and smart mobbing during this election season, and the liberal website MoveOn.org has been highly successful in raising funds for Democrats. Moore also cites the effectiveness of the "second superpower" in organizing protests aging the World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle in 1999.
Both Trippi's and Moore's points are well taken, but Moore's vision in particular seems skewed toward technology-savvy liberal activists who are educated and affluent enough to purchase and use this technology. In other words, they are typical early adopters. To me, what's more interesting is what will happen if and when the late adopters--older, more conservative, less affluent and less educated voters--start leveraging the Internet in a large way. That's when we'll see real change! And that is when we could finally see the collapse of the traditional political parties, which are failing because they're trying to sell a 19th-century model of governance to a 21st-century electorate.
Minding the Planet Channel Mob
Former Howard Dean campaign manager Joe Trippe has written a perceptive article on the subject for MSNBC.com, citing disaffection with the major parties dating at least back to Ross Perot's independent candidacy in 1992. Parties and voters are locked in a vicious cycle that is causing everyone to lose faith in the political process: candidates, in a desperate bid for funds and support, pander to the most extreme and demanding elements in their parties, disaffection mainstream voters, and forcing candidates to go even further outside the mainstream for support. Trippi's assertion is that political parties risk extinction if they continue this pattern.
An even more extreme view of the future of politics is voiced by Harvard law professor James Moore. In his essay "The Second Superpower Rears Its Beautiful Head", Moore describes the rise of "emergent democracy" that uses technology to mobilize citizens in a way that's a truer form of democracy than anything we have today. We've seen the use of the Web, e-mail, text messaging, blogging and smart mobbing during this election season, and the liberal website MoveOn.org has been highly successful in raising funds for Democrats. Moore also cites the effectiveness of the "second superpower" in organizing protests aging the World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle in 1999.
Both Trippi's and Moore's points are well taken, but Moore's vision in particular seems skewed toward technology-savvy liberal activists who are educated and affluent enough to purchase and use this technology. In other words, they are typical early adopters. To me, what's more interesting is what will happen if and when the late adopters--older, more conservative, less affluent and less educated voters--start leveraging the Internet in a large way. That's when we'll see real change! And that is when we could finally see the collapse of the traditional political parties, which are failing because they're trying to sell a 19th-century model of governance to a 21st-century electorate.
Minding the Planet Channel Mob
Cloning Fluffy
A company called Genetic Savings and Clone has reportedly cloned two kittens using what it calls a safer and more reliable method than previous cloning initiatives. The company is now offering its pet cloning and "gene banking" services to the public for a mere $50,000 per pet. Time will tell how well the effort works out, but pet cloning appears to be an unstoppable trend. The question remains of how badly pet owners want their beloved animals to be cloned.
Read an article about the process in Wired, or visit the GS&C website.
Minding the Planet Channel Mob
Read an article about the process in Wired, or visit the GS&C website.
Minding the Planet Channel Mob
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