Tuesday, August 30, 2011

New Addition To The Edstrom Family - Nero


From left to right   Spike age 13, Nero 5 months and Photon age 7   The name Nero means black in Italian.  I ok'd a puppy in a moment of mental weakness while in Italy this summer :-)    I forgot how much work puppies can be. Nero is a good pup with a great personality.   He loves to follow Photon around and just pester him.  Nero and Tim have a lot in common :-)


Sunday, August 28, 2011

Please Donate to Dave Patterson's Great Cause - Waves To Wine Ride 2011 to Fight MS

I would encourage everyone to sponsor Dave Patterson on his upcoming Waves To Wine Ride 2011 that helps combat the crippling disease - MS.  The ride is coming up September 17th and 18th.

As Dave states on his "Accept The Challenge" Waves To Wine Ride 2011 page:

Why I Ride

My wife was diagnosed with MS in 2006, which brought home the impact of this disease. Fortunately, she did not really have it, but I was inspired to try harder to raise funds to help find a cure so that other families wouldn't face this daunting lifestyle. In the process, and I learned that MS has struck children, brothers, sisters, nieces, cousins, and close friends of my friends, making the disease much more widespread than I'd realized.
You can go here to donate to sponsor Dave and his two sons for this VERY IMPORTANT cause.  Please do!

Best of Luck Steve Jobs

Hopefully, Steve Jobs health will turn around for the better.

I had the great fortune to hear Steve Jobs speak on few occasions while at Sun Microsystems.  I remember when he told the story about walking through Xerox PARC and seeing the first window system graphical user interface and a mouse.
Steve said, "all of you would have realized that this was the future of computing and did the same thing I did."  I remember saying to the person next to me, "no we wouldn't, we're not Steve Jobs".  The one thing that is true, is that Steve Jobs has a a reality distortion field around him when he spoke.  He is without peer when it comes to talking technology in a clear, concise and compelling way. 

Below is my favorite commencement address of all time by Steve Jobs at Stanford.




Saturday, August 27, 2011

TechSolve Visit and MTConnect


This past Thursday the 25th of August, Paul Warndorf, VP of Technology and CTO for AMT - The Association For Manufacturing Technology, and I visited the Hyatt Regency in Cincinnati as a walk through for the first ever [MC]2 MTConnect Connecting Manufacturing Conference.  The Hyatt Regency will be perfect for our needs.  Our flight back Thursday evening was canceled.  Paul asked me if I had ever been to TechSolve.  When I mentioned that I had never visited TechSolve, Paul gave Ron Pieper of TechSolve to see if we could visit.   Ron was very busy, but luckily for us, he was able to give us a tour of TechSolve.

Ron is a Senior Project Engineer at TechSolve who wears many hats.  Ron and TechSolve have been HUGE supporters of MTConnect from the very early days.  We had a chance to say hello as well to Amit Deshpande of TechSolve.

Ron, Amit as well as Sri Atluru are all leading sessions at [MC]2 MTConnect Connecting Manufacturing Conference.  TechSolve is also a sponsor and exhibitor at [MC]2.  Sri is a Technology Lead at TechSolve.   At the MTConnect Institute we are very, very fortunate to have TechSolve's support with MTConnect.

Below is a video that Paul took with Ron and I discussing TechSolve.  Since we were around a bunch of machine tools, please turn up the volume on your computer to hear what we were discussing.  Thanks Ron!


Friday, August 26, 2011

Corvettes at Carlisle 2011 With John Meyer


Today John Meyer and I went to Corvettes at Carlisle again this year and we met Steve and Mike Ferry.  Above is a 180 degree view from the hill at the fairgrounds.


Above is a 360 degree view with John Meyer to the left of the orange C6.
One of the cool things that John and I did was get in the autograph line of Corvette legends.  What makes Corvettes so cool are the people.   Here, in 2009, I am talking Tadge Juecther, Corvettes Chief Engineer,



These engineers who make and have made Corvettes love them as much as we do.  I got a chance to talk with Tadge Juecther, Corvettes Chief Engineer, Dave McLellan (the C4 Chief Engineer) Lance Miller, son of Chip Miller.  Chip Miller and Bill Miller (no relationship) were the two that started Corvettes at Carlisle.  Lance Miller and Michael Brown (Writer, Producer and Director of The Quest) were there signing DVD copies of the movie The Quest. As Corvette Racing stated:

"Last year's 24 Hours of Le Mans marked the 50th anniversary of Corvette's first participation in the world's most celebrated sports car race. Fifty years after Briggs Cunningham's No. 3 Corvette finished first in the large displacement GT category, the restored race car was reunited with one of its legendary drivers, John Fitch, at the fabled French circuit. Now the remarkable story of this milestone Corvette's return to Le Mans is told in a new documentary film, "The Quest."
The film recounts how the No. 3 Corvette disappeared into obscurity after winning its class at Le Mans. It follows the quest of renowned Corvette enthusiast Chip Miller to find, restore, and ultimately return this milestone automobile to France to celebrate the golden anniversary of its historic victory. Following Miller's untimely death in 2004, his dream of returning the No. 3 Cunningham Corvette to Le Mans lived on through his son Lance and the Miller family."
 
Below is the trailer. This is a classic and maybe the classic Corvette story.





This is me at the top of the fairground hill.


A big problem that John and I have every year are the young woman who follow us around and want their pictures taken with us :-)   Behind us was the new 2012 color that GM calls Carlisle Blue to honor the 30th anniversary of Corvettes at Carlisle.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

5.8 Earthquake in Washington Area Today

A very, very interesting day in Washington, DC with the 5.8 earthquake.

I was with Paul Warndorf, VP of Technology and CTO for AMT, and a member of AMT in the Board Room when the earthquake hit.  The first rumble, I said "must be construction."  When things started to really move, the AMT member said, "I have been in Japan, this is an earthquake."   We got at out AMT pretty quickly at that point.

I immediately blamed Pat McGibbon, but later I was told Pat was not responsible for the earthquake :-)

The first earthquake I was in was in the Philippines in 1968 that was 7.3.  I have been in a few earthquakes in California when I worked for Sun Microsystems.  Once, I was driving a rental car and I thought, "I am going to return this rental tomorrow because the suspension is crap."   The next morning I was told by a friend that I was driving when the earthquake hit.

Below is from the USGS on the earthquake:

"The Virginia earthquake of 2011 August 23 occurred as reverse faulting on a north or northeast-striking plane within a previously recognized seismic zone, the "Central Virginia Seismic Zone." The Central Virginia Seismic Zone has produced small and moderate earthquakes since at least the 18th century. The previous largest historical shock from the Central Virginia Seismic Zone occurred in 1875. The 1875 shock occurred before the invention of effective seismographs, but the felt area of the shock suggests that it had a magnitude of about 4.8. The 1875 earthquake shook bricks from chimneys, broke plaster and windows, and overturned furniture at several locations. A magnitude 4.5 earthquake on 2003, December 9, also produced minor damage.

Previous seismicity in the Central Virginia Seismic Zone has not been causally associated with mapped geologic faults. Previous, smaller, instrumentally recorded earthquakes from the Central Virginia Seismic Zone have had shallow focal depths (average depth about 8 km). They have had diverse focal mechanisms and have occurred over an area with length and width of about 120 km, rather than being aligned in a pattern that might suggest that they occurred on a single causative fault. Individual earthquakes within the Central Virginia Seismic Zone occur as the result of slip on faults that are much smaller than the overall dimensions of the zone. The dimensions of the individual fault that produced the 2011 August 23 earthquake will not be known until longer-term studies are done, but other earthquakes of similar magnitude typically involve slippage along fault segments that are 5 - 15 km long.

Earthquakes in the central and eastern U.S., although less frequent than in the western U.S., are typically felt over a much broader region. East of the Rockies, an earthquake can be felt over an area as much as ten times larger than a similar magnitude earthquake on the west coast. A magnitude 4.0 eastern U.S. earthquake typically can be felt at many places as far as 100 km (60 mi) from where it occurred, and it infrequently causes damage near its source. A magnitude 5.5 eastern U.S. earthquake usually can be felt as far as 500 km (300 mi) from where it occurred, and sometimes causes damage as far away as 40 km (25 mi)."












The Beatles, Florence (Italy), and [MC]2

This is an article I wrote the for August 2011 IMTS Insider.

The Beatles, Florence (Italy), and [MC]2

August 10, 2011

MC2, November 8-10, 2011 - Hyatt Regency, Cincinnati, Ohio What do The Beatles, the city of Florence, Italy, and the MTConnect: Connecting Manufacturing Conference [MC]2 all have in common? Are we moving [MC]2 from Cincinnati, Ohio, to Florence, Italy, and having Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr as the entertainment for the opening reception? That would be nice, but highly unlikely. So, what is the common thread? Let me explain.

There are a number of books and articles that have been written of late attempting to quantify the age-old question of "nature vs. nurture" in determining someone's success. In Malcolm Gladwell's book Outliers, Gladwell quantifies just how much The Beatles played together before their "instant success" appearing on The Ed Sullivan Show in February of 1964. The Beatles played live in Hamburg, Germany, more than 1,200 times from 1960 to 1964. Those nights totaled more than 10,000 hours because they were playing 8 to 10 hours a night, 7 days a week.

It would be easy to misunderstand the premise of Outliers if that was the only story I shared. Gladwell discussed the concept of his book further when he was interviewed by USA Today in late 2008. "The biggest misconception about success is that we do it solely on our smarts, ambition, hustle and hard work. There's an awful lot more that goes into it than we admit." Gladwell emphasizes that if you want to understand why someone is successful, you also need to look beyond the nature and nurture argument, and take a look at other data points such as when and where they were born. Everything from current technology to societal and cultural shifts can have a strong influence on success.

In Daniel Coyle's book, The Talent Code, Coyle asks the question: "Why did so many incredible talents come from Florence, Italy, during the renaissance?" By incredibly talented, we are talking about Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Dante, and Galileo, to name just a few. What was different about Florence, Italy? Guilds. What made Florence so unique were how these guilds were organized and the proven mentoring framework. Young boys were put into apprentice programs with masters that would last 5 to 10 years. The apprenticeship was very organized and emphasized a hands-on approach that would build apprentices' skills from the ground up. These young artists invested thousands and thousands of hours learning their skills under the tutelage of masters.

So, what do The Beatles, the city of Florence, Italy, and the MTConnect: Connecting Manufacturing Conference [MC]2 all have in common? While we won't have Paul or Ringo as entertainment, we will have the masters of MTConnect and manufacturing, and we will be providing days of business and technical sessions in a hands-on framework to create the virtual "guilds" that will continue to live on long after the conference. At the MTConnect Institute, we strongly believe that [MC]2 could be the best investment in your future that either you or your company could make in 2011!

[MC]2 Conference
» View the [MC}2 Schedule
» Register Now!

By: Dave Edstrom
Director, The Office of Strategic Innovation
AMT - The Association For Manufacturing Technology


Monday, August 22, 2011

The Presidents Window -- Thinking Like Lord Kelvin

As President and Chairman of the MTConnect Institute, Paul Warndorf asked me to start writing a monthly newsletter article for the MTConnect Newsletter.  Great idea Paul!  Here is the first one.  For those of you who ARE not MTConnect members, please join here!

The President's Window
Thinking Like Lord Kelvin
Dave Edstrom
President and Chairman of the Board
MTConnect Institute
This is a new feature story that Paul Warndorf, VP of Technology for AMT  The Association For Manufacturing Technology, has asked me to write each month.  I thought it was a great suggestion and I hope to get feedback from you on what is interesting and topics you would like me to address.  This will not be strictly about MTConnect, even though I hope to have a thread to our open and royalty-free protocol.  I chose the name “The President’s Window” because it is concise, and I hope it conveys the open theme of these monthly articles.  Since this is thefirst article, I thought I would start off with one of my favorite themes.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) was my account for 6 years starting in the mid 1980s when I was a Systems Engineer at Sun Microsystems.  I loved having NIST as an account because the institute was always doing something very interesting and pushing the limits on what Sun could provide in terms of computing power.  On one of my first visits to NIST, I was brought into a conference room and saw the following engraved in the floor:

“I often say that when you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it; but when you cannot measure it, when you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge is of a meager and unsatisfactory kind; it may be the beginning of knowledge, but you have scarcely in your thoughts advanced to the state of Science, whatever the matter may be.”
            
                    Lord Kelvin (Sir William Thomson)
That phrase is built into the DNA of computer science and science in general.  To provide a simple example of this, when you walk into a data center that houses thousands of computers in countless racks, you will find that every single one of those computers is monitored extremely closely.  But according to industry and academic experts,only 4 to 5 percent of machine tools are monitored today.  This percentage is mind-boggling to me.  How can any plant possibly make intelligent decisions if they cannot quantify what a machine tool is doing?

Let’s look at some of the laws in the computer industry and see if there are similarities in manufacturing.  Bob Metcalfe, the inventor of Ethernet, made a statement that has now become known as “Metcalfe’s Law.”   Metcalfe’s Law basically states that the value of any network is the number of users or devices connected to the network squared.  If we apply Metcalfe’s Law to manufacturing, we would modify it slightly to state: The value of any manufacturing shop floor’s network is the number of pieces of manufacturing equipment that can speak MTConnect squared.  Why MTConnect squared and not just the number of pieces of manufacturing equipment squared?  Because it is MTConnect that makes these pieces of equipment able to all speak the language of the Internet, which is XML.

Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld liked to say, “there are known knowns, known unknowns and unknown unknowns.”  Stated another way, “you don’t know what you don’t know.”   The real purpose of MTConnect is to quantify the known unknowns and provide the framework to discover the unknown unknowns.  You can’t manage what you don’t know.  And unless you are quantifying what you don’t know, then you are shooting from the hip, which is never a good idea.

In order to quantify how well a manufacturing plant or job shop is doing, you first must easily get the data and put it in a standard quantified form.  That is exactly what MTConnect does.  Getting the data in an open and royalty-free way is what will allow you to first monitor what you are doing and then to share the information with all your applications and all your partners.  While the most obvious use of getting common information out of a piece of equipment is monitoring, that is just the tip of the iceberg.  The real win with MTConnect is when quantified information is available anytime, anywhere to any application, to any partner and on any device, it drives up productivity.  I imagine Lord Kelvin would change MTConnect’s mantra to: “MTConnect – to measure is to know.”

Please remember to get the word out on the MTConnect: Connecting Manufacturing Conference [MC]2!

MTConnect: Different Devices, Common Connection
MTConnect: To Measure Is To Know
___________________________

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Today's Herbert Hoover Republicans


This article titled, "The Republicans’ new voodoo economics?" in The Washington Post today by Greg Ip, who is the U.S. economics editor for The Economist and the author of “The Little Book of Economics: How the Economy Works in the Real World.”

Below are two snippets from the Ip's article where I highlighted points of note.
"This is not to be confused with supply-side economics, the dubious Reagan-era doctrine that tax cuts would generate enough economic growth and revenue to reduce the deficit.   Republicans still believe in lower taxes but generally don’t claim they pay for themselves. The new GOP views actually have a much longer pedigree: They are rooted in an intellectual contest that raged during the 1930s and 1940s, and had long been settled by the opposing side."
"A shift toward fiscal and monetary austerity in the United States in 1937 helped prolong the depression. Fiscal tightening helped push Japan back into recession in 1997. "

August AMT Online [MC]2 Article

This is an article I wrote for AMT Online


By Dave Edstrom

On April 28 we announced the first ever [MC]2 MTConnect®: Connecting Manufacturing Conference in AMT NEWS. This conference will take place November 8-10, 2011, in Cincinnati, Ohio, and will have something for everyone from end users, to manufacturing technology builders, to software developers, to C-level executives, to students — anyone who just wants to really understand MTConnect! The conference is aimed at promoting both the business and technical benefits and implementation of MTConnect, as well as showcasing commercially available products utilizing the standard.

This will be like no other manufacturing conference that you have ever attended. You’ll get a highly interactive and thought-provoking experience guaranteed to leave you inspired.

Conference Details


[MC]2 will have a wide range of keynotes, technical sessions, business sessions, technical workshops, exhibits and live demonstrations. Technical tracks will have a heavy emphasis on the “hands-on” side of MTConnect, while the business tracks will emphasize quantifying increased productivity with real world examples. Attendees can mix and match attending technical or business sessions, as well as hands-on technical workshops.  

Each morning will start with a keynote and then break into parallel technical and business sessions. An example of the quality of [MC]2 is the first keynote. Mike Geldner of Google will present, “Inside The World of Google.” 

Business sessions will present a wide range of topics such as Getting Started With MTConnect – Where Do I Begin, Connecting Legacy Machine Tools, and Panel Discussion On Monitoring Your Shop Floor Using The MTConnect Protocol. 

Technical workshops will include important topics such as MTConnect 101:  Fundamentals of MTConnect, MTConnect Architecture: Understanding and Building MTConnect Agents and Adapters, and MTConnect Hello World:  Building Your First MTConnect Application. Exhibitors will be demonstrating how the MTConnect protocol is being utilized to save both time and money.  

Conference ROI

I wrote in the May IMTS Insider that the true ROI of [MC]2 will not be just what happens during the business, technical or general sessions, but what happens before, between and after those sessions, at the exhibits in the hallways, the breaks, and anyplace where [MC]2 attendees are together. These impromptu conversations and meetings are where you meet folks who are doing the same thing you are trying to do but have a different approach. It is these discussions that cause you to think differently and ask questions that you would have never thought of prior to the conference. The individuals who you meet and then continue to have ongoing conversations with beyond the event are absolutely priceless. It is meeting customers in a setting where you are both searching for creative solutions that can be the petri dish for future collaborations. It is grabbing the speaker of a session and going out for lunch together to discuss some of the finer points of the session. It is adding lots of new contacts that will save you time and your company money when you run into future challenges. 

Who will benefit by attending?


  • End Users
  • Tool Builders
  • ISVs
  • Integrators
  • Distributors
  • Industry Thought Leaders
  • MTConnect® Institute Participants
  • Equipment Suppliers
  • Students
  • Professors
  • Software Developers
  • Consultants
  • Anyone who wants to learn more about MTConnect
[MC]2 is your chance to learn from the experts to really understand how this game-changing technology is making tremendous productivity gains in manufacturing. You will go back to your company with new skills and a much better understanding on what it takes to compete in 21st century manufacturing. 

And don’t forget the hidden ROI from attending these types of events: Meeting people who are trying to do the same things that you are.

Don’t miss the [MC]2 MTConnect: Connecting Manufacturing Conference! Questions? Contact Dave Edstrom at davidallenedstrom@gmail.com.
Contact(s):
David Edstrom 
phone: 703-827-5211

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Jon Huntsman's Controversial Tweet

WOW!  Who would have predicted another one of the Republicans running for President would actually take a stand for science?  
"In the past week, with the entry of Texas Gov. Rick Perry in the race, Huntsman’s candidacy has become something of an afterthought, yet he gained some buzz this week over Twitter by taking Perry to task for doubting the science of evolution and global warming.

On Twitter, Huntsman declared: “To be clear, I believe in evolution and trust scientists on global warming. Call me crazy.”
Huntsman also made the statement below:

"When we take a position that isn't willing to embrace evolution, when we take a position that basically runs counter to what 98 of 100 climate scientists have said, what the National Academy of Science has said about what is causing climate change and man's contribution to it, I think we find ourselves on the wrong side of science, and, therefore, in a losing position," Huntsman told ABC's "This Week."
Huntsman said he couldn't remember a time when "we actually were willing to shun science and become a party that was antithetical to science. I'm not sure that's good for our future and it's not a winning formula," according to interview excerpts released Saturday ABC. The full interview is set to air Sunday.

It should be fun watching Fox News attack Huntsman for being in favor of science.  Maybe the Fox News actors and actresses that do the news should read this Joint Science Academies Statement?

I have to give Mitt Romney credit for this back in January:

"MANCHESTER, N.H. — In the first town hall of his freshly announced presidential campaign, Mitt Romney yesterday reaffirmed his view that global warming is occurring and that humans are contributing to it, a position that has been rejected in recent years by many Republicans as the issue has taken on a greater partisan tinge."

Thanks mfrtech.com [MC]2 Article


HUGE thanks to mfrtech.com for running a great article on the first ever [MC]2 MTConnect Connecting Manufacturing Conference!


Friday, August 19, 2011

Joel Neidig and ITAMCO - Modern Machine Shop Article by Mark Albert


Mark Albert, Editor-in-Chief at Modern Machine Shop ,is a great writer and has been a HUGE friend of MTConnect.  He has a great article on Joel Neidig of ITAMCO called Remote Machine Monitoring In Hand .  Below is a snippet:

An early proponent and supporter of MTConnect, Mr. Neidig has been active as a member of the MTConnect Technical Advisory Group. He’s also taken the standard a step forward by creating several applications for networkable handheld devices, such as the iPhone and Android. “These apps can be used to dial up the network address of a machine tool’s CNC and access data available through the MTConnect adapter,” he explains. For example, one app enables him to scroll to various screens—such as the one from his iPhone shown here—to view machine status and performance data.
Please go read the entire article, it's well worth the time!

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Apple clean up all tmp files, resets and diagnostics

I recently went through an exercise where I needed to totally clean up my MacBook Pro's hard drive to get it back to a clean and relatively known state without doing a reformat and reload of the OS.   Here are the steps I went through thanks, in great part, to a call into AppleCare on some things that were less than intuitive.  This is for my internal documentation, so please use at your risk....


Apple clean up all tmp files, resets and diagnostics

  1. # cd  /Library/Caches/; rm -fr *; cd ~dave/Library/Caches; rm -fr *

  2. boot in SAFE mode which will clean up a number of files
    1. To perform a Safe Boot, hold the Shift key as your Mac starts up.
    2. BOOT IN SAFE MODE FOR BEST TROUBLESHOOTING TO STOP UNNECESSARY PROGRAMS FROM STARTING UP

  3. Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC)
    1. On the built-in keyboard, press the (left side) Shift-Control-Option keys and the power button at the same time
    2. Release all the keys and the power button at the same time.

  4. Resetting PRAM and NVRAM
    1. Shut down the computer.
* Locate the following keys on the keyboard: Command, Option, P, and R. You will need to hold these keys down simultaneously in step 4.
* Turn on the computer.
* Press and hold the Command-Option-P-R keys. You must press this key combination before the gray screen appears.
* Hold the keys down until the computer restarts and you hear the startup sound for the second time.
* Release the keys.
* Your computer's PRAM and the NVRAM are reset to the default values. The clock
settings may be reset to a default date on some models.

5. CLEAR ALL BROWSER CACHES

6.  run the Apple Hardware Test
     
        Press and hold the "D" key before the gray startup screen appears.

7. Boot up using alternative boot partition either by going into settings and changing the boot sector or by HOLDING down the OPTION key when booting to select



Intel-based Macs: Using Apple Hardware TestNote: Please be sure to disconnect any external devices, printers, hard drives, scanners, and so on (other than the Apple keyboard and mouse) from your Apple Computer before starting up to Apple Hardware test and running the Diagnostic.

To start up your computer in Apple Hardware Test:

  1. If the computer is already on, insert the appropriate disc into the optical disc drive, then restart. If the computer is not on, turn it on and insert the disc as soon as possible after startup.
  2. Press and hold the "D" key before the gray startup screen appears.
  3. It takes a minute or so for Apple Hardware Test to start up and inspect your hardware configuration. While this is taking place, an icon appears on the screen:
 When the process is complete, select your language and click the right arrow. If you aren't using a mouse, you can use the up and down arrows to select a language and then press the Return key.
  4. The Apple Hardware Test console appears. You can choose which sort of test or tests to perform:
      * To perform all of the basic tests, click the Test button or press the "T" key or the Return key.
      * To perform a more thorough diagnostic test, select the "Perform extended testing" checkbox under the Test button before you click the Test button.
Your test results will appear in the window in the bottom-right of the console.
The Hardware Profile tab of AHT provides specific information about your computer. To see this information, click the tab, then select a subject area on the left.

To exit AHT, click Restart or Shut Down at the bottom of the window. Remember that clicking Shut Down will not automatically eject the disc.   Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC)Note: Portable computers that have a battery you should not remove on your own include MacBook Pro (Early 2009) and later, all models of MacBook Air, and MacBook (Late 2009).

  1. Shut down the computer.
  2. Plug in the MagSafe power adapter to a power source, connecting it to the Mac if its not already connected.
  3. On the built-in keyboard, press the (left side) Shift-Control-Option keys and the power button at the same time.
  4. Release all the keys and the power button at the same time.
  5. Press the power button to turn on the computer.  Note: The LED on the MagSafe power adapter may change states or temporarily turn off when you reset the SMC.

Apple Resetting PRAM + NVRAM


Resetting PRAM and NVRAM

  1. Shut down the computer.
  2. Locate the following keys on the keyboard: Command, Option, P, and R. You will need to hold these keys down simultaneously in step 4.
  3. Turn on the computer.
  4. Press and hold the Command-Option-P-R keys. You must press this key combination before the gray screen appears.
  5. Hold the keys down until the computer restarts and you hear the startup sound for the second time.
  6. Release the keys.
  7. Your computer's PRAM and the NVRAM are reset to the default values. The clock settings may be reset to a default date on some models.


Contents of PRAM

Some Macintosh computers may not have all the settings described below. For Mac OS X information, refer to Mac OS X: What's Stored in PRAM?

Status of AppleTalk
Serial Port Configuration and Port definition
Alarm clock setting
Application font
Serial printer location
Autokey rate
Autokey delay
Speaker volume
Attention (beep) sound
Double-click time
Caret blink time (insertion point rate)
Mouse scaling (mouse speed)
Startup disk
Menu blink count
Monitor depth
32-bit addressing
Virtual memory
RAM disk
Disk cache


Safe BootSafe Boot is a special way to start up when troubleshooting. Safe Mode is the state Mac OS X is in after a Safe Boot. To perform a Safe Boot, hold the Shift key as your Mac starts up.

Products AffectedMac OS X 10.3, Mac OS X 10.2, Mac OS X 10.4, Mac OS X 10.6, Mac OS X 10.5, Time Capsule

Starting up into Safe Mode does several things:

   * It forces a directory check of the startup volume.
   * It loads only required kernel extensions (some of the items in /System/Library/Extensions).
   * In Mac OS X v10.3.9 or earlier, Safe Mode runs only Apple-installed startup items (such items may be installed either in /Library/StartupItems or in /System/Library/StartupItems; these are different than user-selected account login items).
   * It disables all fonts other than those in /System/Library/Fonts (Mac OS X v10.4 or later).
   * It moves to the Trash all font caches normally stored in/Library/Caches/com.apple.ATS/(uid)/ , where (uid) is a user ID number such as 501 (Mac OS X v10.4 or later).
   * It disables all startup items and login items (Mac OS X v10.4 or later).
   * Mac OS X v10.5.6 or later: A Safe Boot deletes the dynamic loader shared cache at (/var/db/dyld/). A cache with issues may cause a blue screen on startup, particularly after a Software Update. Restarting normally recreates this cache.
Taken together, these changes can help resolve software or directory issues that may exist on the startup volume.

Some features don't work in Safe ModeSafe Mode can be useful for troubleshooting. However, certain Mac OS X features do not work in Safe Mode. For example, you can't use DVD Player, capture video in iMovie, use audio input or output devices, or use an internal or external USB modem. The behavior of some devices such as an AirPort card may vary depending on computer and Mac OS X version.

Safe Mode in Mac OS X v10.5 or later also disables Quartz Extreme (hardware accelerated graphics). Applications that depend on Quartz Extreme will not open, and the Mac OS X menu bar will appear solid even if "Translucent Menu Bar" is enabled in Desktop & Screen Saver preferences.
Safe Mode in Mac OS X v10.6 or later also disables File Sharing access. This means you will not be able to mount Time Capsule disks or volumes being served by other computers running Mac OS X.

Additional InformationSee also: Mac OS X: Gray screen appears during startup



Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Realtime Hacking of Your Car

An article in Popular Science on DOT Mapping Out a Plan to Protect Cars From Cyber-Attacks started me looking at this.

FedBizOpps.Gov has the following RFI on their website:

Cyber security and Safety of Motor Vehicles Equipped with Electronic Control Systems

 2.0 Background. Information and electronic technologies are being increasingly used to enhance transportation safety and efficiency - resulting in increasingly complex, cyber-physical systems, and new failure modes and mechanisms that are not well understood with respect to safety hazards and security vulnerabilities. 

The USDOT is collecting relevant information to characterize needs and establish a strategic research roadmap to meet the rising challenges of ensuring the safety of automotive safety-critical systems due to increasing complexity of motor vehicle systems using advanced electronic controls to improve drivability, safety, efficiency, and operational reliability; escalating use of information technology in motor vehicles to enhance basic and secondary vehicle functions and to enable infotainment applications; and wireless connectivity to in-vehicle systems, between vehicles and external information networks, and among vehicles. 

Essential information and insights are sought as input to strategic decisions about next research steps and justifying initiatives relative to research possibilities as well as revised approaches to regulation, enforcement, incident/forensics, vehicle testing, communications/outreach/professional capacity building, or recommended electronic hardware/software systems architecture and engineering design safeguard principles and/or practices, including human factors and training considerations.

This looks like a very interesting and extremely important RFI.  Here is an interesting article by ABC News on:

Scientists Hack Into Cars' Computers -- Control Brakes, Engine

The following got my attention in the article:

  "Vehicle manufacturers and third-party systems are increasingly using wireless networks as a cheaper means for connecting to Electronic Control Units (ECUs) – the computer brains behind braking, engine, and locking mechanisms along with other systems. A typical luxury sedan today may use more than 100 megabytes of computer code spread across 50 to 70 ECUs, researchers say."

Monday, August 15, 2011

President Obama in Cannon Falls and Zumbrota MN


This is an update from my earlier posting this morning.... 

I can not believe that President Obama stopped in Cannon Falls, MN today at 10:30am AND then went to Zumbrota, MN to start of his 3 state bus tour.  My grandmother lived in Cannon Falls for over 25 years after they sold their farm in Randolph.  I still have a number of relatives in Cannon Falls.  I hope my Aunt Mary went down there to ask the President some tough questions! :-)

Below is from the Duluth News Tribune:

CANNON FALLS, Minn. – President Barack Obama will visit a Cannon Falls park Monday for what the White House calls a town hall meeting.

The White House Thursday night confirmed the event, which will begin at 11:45 a.m. Free tickets are available to the public beginning at 1 p.m. Sunday at Cannon Falls City Hall, 918 River Road.

Tickets will be limited to two per person and will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis.

The exact format of the Obama event was not announced, but it is part of a three-state bus tour during which he plans to discuss the economy.
It will be at Lower Hannah's Bend Park.

He THEN goes to Zumbrota Minnesota where my other grandparents lived for some pie.  I have lots of relatives in Zumbrota.  He went to the SAME restaurant I took my Aunt Mary, Uncle Marvin and Aunt Evie for lunch about three years ago.  Unbelievable....

Below is from the blog Obama Foodarama

Rural Bus Tour: Between Minnesota & Iowa, a treat stop and a meet n' greet with school kids...






"On Monday afternoon, after his first town hall of the day and lunch with veterans in Cannon Falls, MN, President Obama stopped his huge, black armored tour bus in the storybook town of Zumbrota, which has just a little more than 3,000 residents. Pie was required for the 114-mile drive to the day's second town hall, across state lines in Decorah, Iowa. The President, accompanied by bodyman Reggie Love, disembarked at the Coffee Mill Restaurant, a cafe in the tiny downtown, and ordered five different kinds of pie. The Eater in Chief is a pie fanatic: Pies are served at every White House holiday, and three kinds were on offer at his 50th birthday shindig, too."