RFID Technology Coming to Ford Trucks
June 26, 2008
While listening to CNET’s CarTech Podcast recently, I heard about how Ford is planning to implement radio frequency identification (RFID) technology with select trucks this fall. This just goes to show that virtually all digital technologies will find their way into the automotive industry. Successful service techs must be willing to accept and even embrace emerging digital technologies going into the future.
Here is a brief clip taken from Think Magic’s Press Release:
ThingMagic, Inc. (www.thingmagic.com) will partner with DEWALT and Ford Motor Company to equip 2009 Ford F-150, F-Series Super Duty pickups and E-Series vans with an embedded RFID asset tracking system enabled by ThingMagic’s Mercury5e readers. Ford Work Solutions Tool Link by DEWALT uses a specifically designed RFID reader system powered by ThingMagic’s Mercury5e embedded module and a pair of antennas, in corrosion- and impact–resistant housings mounted in the pickup box, to enable Ford and DEWALT customers to track RFID-tagged assets, such as tools, construction equipment and materials, in the truck and ensure that vehicle contents are easily accounted for and quickly located at all times.
Here is an audio clip pulled from the CarTech Podcast about the RFID project:
TED Talks: Do Schools Kill Creativity
June 26, 2008
Here is an interesting TED Talk presentation that relates to technology being applied to the automotive industry. It is a little deviation of the more technical content that is usually found on the site and more about education. I just find this talk about education so interesting that it should be shared. As an educator it challenges me to look at students differently.
So what is TED?
TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds. Since then its scope has become ever broader.
The annual conference now brings together the world’s most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives (in 18 minutes).
This site makes the best talks and performances from TED available to the public, for free. More than 200 talks from our archive are now available, with more added each week. These videos are released under a Creative Commons license, so they can be freely shared and reposted.
This talk is by creativity expert Sir Ken Robinson challenges the way we’re educating our children. He champions a radical rethink of our school systems, to cultivate creativity and acknowledge multiple types of intelligence.
TED Talks: Getting cars off the road and data into the skies
June 26, 2008
Here is an interesting TED Talk presentation that relates to technology being applied to the automotive industry.
So what is TED?
TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds. Since then its scope has become ever broader.
The annual conference now brings together the world’s most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives (in 18 minutes).
This site makes the best talks and performances from TED available to the public, for free. More than 200 talks from our archive are now available, with more added each week. These videos are released under a Creative Commons license, so they can be freely shared and reposted.
This presentation is by Robin Chase the founder of Zipcar, the world’s biggest car-sharing business. That was one of her smaller ideas. Here she travels much farther, contemplating road-pricing schemes that will shake up our driving habits and a mesh network vast as the Interstate.
When the Ignorance of Technology Can Go Very Wrong
April 5, 2008
So how could the ignorance of technology cause a problem? Here is a clip taken from the Julie Amero page on Wikipedia.
On October 19, 2004 Julie Amero was substituting for a seventh-grade language class at Kelly Middle School in Norwich, Connecticut. The teacher’s computer was accessed by pupils while the regular teacher, Matthew Napp, was out of the room. When Julie took charge, the computer started showing pornographic images.
On January 5, 2007 Amero was convicted in Norwich Superior Court on four counts of risk of injury to a minor, or impairing the morals of a child. Her sentencing was delayed four times after her conviction, with both the prosecution and judge not satisfied that all aspects of the case had been assessed. The felony charges for which she was originally convicted carry a maximum prison sentence of 40 years.
On June 6, 2007, a New London superior court judge threw out the conviction of Amero, she was granted a new trial and entered a plea of not guilty. The new trial date has not yet been set; it is unclear at this time if the State’s Attorney of Connecticut will pursue a second trial.
Since I too am a school teacher, this really got my attention. I could see this scenario playing out in many other situations. Imagine if malware popped up a porn advertisement in the middle of a presentation and a female from the audience wanted to make it a case of sexual harassment?
Leo Laporte provided some on-the-air commentary about this case during his “The Tech Guy” radio show. A clip of that is included below.
Leo Laporte On Julie Amero’s Case
Technology… Its the Work of the Devil!
April 4, 2008
Many in today’s culture have embraced technology; however, some think it is the works of some evil force. Perhaps you know of someone who thinks computers are sinister and evil. My wife’s parents are always talking about the nonsense of technology. Her mother saw some kids with wires stuck in their ears at the mall and this concerned her. I didn’t even try to explain to her that they were likely listening to an audio file on a portable audio player. Or that it is even possible (but not likely) that they were listening to educational content and not music from a singer who would bite the head off a bat!
Unfortunately those that have a warped opinion of technology are not just the older (and basically uninformed) but are “educated” and teaching in our school system. Take a listen to this clip for an interesting opinion from an 8th grade writing teacher. It is really sad…
Clip From a David Warlick Technology in Education Presentation
