“Be excellent to each other.”
– William "Bill" Stanley Preston, Esq., “Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure”
1. Birds Aren’t Real
The proposition that birds are government drones deployed to spy on us to ensure that we fall in line while they perch on power lines to recharge their batteries before they take flight for more spying is preposterous. However, they might be drones deployed by Hyundai Steel Co. who just admitted to making robots that resemble animals to monitor safety at industrial sites.
2. Don’t Microwave Metal
Typically you should not have microwaved metal … until now. The Virtual Foundry, a manufacturer of metal filaments, has created a new method for 3D printing metal parts using a microwave. The process is said to be faster and cheaper than “traditional” methods and produces parts with better mechanical properties (yeah, yeah; go figure). We’ll see! These parts look like microwaved kitty litter. Used kitty litter … or owl pellets.
3. A Third Hand
Remember helping your dad work on the family car? You were so excited to do some grown-up work! You were gonna turn wrenches or maybe even get trusted with a power tool! Or so you thought. No, instead, you sat there bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, holding a flashlight and getting verbally abused when you weren’t holding it steady enough – and yelled at even more when you started crying. Core life memories, I tell you! This all could have been avoided if your old man had a simple robot hand to hold stuff for him … or some sanity. Robots could save time and money – not just revenue but also years of therapy bills.
4. It’s Cybersecurity Awareness Month!
To celebrate Cybersecurity Month, you could consider implementing the NIST framework to navigate nasty threats. Our friends over at the National Institute for Standards and Technology put together a framework, or a set of standards and guidelines, that can help organizations manage cybersecurity risks. The article provides an overview of the NIST framework and how it can be used to manage threats. You be careful out among them English!
5. AR Will Take Over Motorcycle Helmets Next
Like most technology, augmented reality started with adoption by the military (think aircraft heads-up displays and reflex weapon sights) and trickled down to the private sector as they found the field-tested tech fit. We in the manufacturing industry thought it was coming to us next to help with training for using and servicing machine tools. Welp, I personally am happy to announce it’s coming to motorcyclists first! If you want the state of the art, you gotta be the state of the art!
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