Memex Inc. Expects to Report Record Sales in Q3 – 2016

 

 

July 28, 2016   Investor News, Press Releases, Recent News

BURLINGTON, ON–(Marketwired – Jul 28, 2016) – Memex Inc. (“Memex” or the “Company”) (TSX VENTURE: OEE) today released preliminary financial and operational highlights from its third quarter of fiscal 2016, which ended June 30, 2016. All results are reported in Canadian dollars. Full financial results are expected to be released after the Company’s regularly scheduled Board Meeting on August 18, 2016.

Memex expects to achieve revenue of $919 thousand for the third quarter of 2016, representing an increase of 104% over the same period a year ago, and 61% higher than Q2 2016. Revenue growth was driven by both new customer wins and follow-on orders. Year-to date sales of $2.1 million eclipsed the $2 million level for the first time in the Company’s history, with one quarter still remaining in the fiscal year. Gross margin for the third quarter of 2016 is expected to be approximately 72.5%, up from 50.4% a year ago. Bookings¹ remain strong with year-to-date bookings exceeding $2.6 million.

Management Commentary:
“A considerable jump in our Q3 sales combined with our solid bookings and backlog is evidence that manufacturers recognize the value and benefits of production analytics and data driven manufacturing,” said the VP of Sales John Rattray. “Our recently announced partnership with Cisco positions Memex to accelerate the delivery of this value proposition.”

Q3 Fiscal 2016 and Subsequent Operational Highlights:

• In July, Memex was featured at Cisco Live (Cisco’s annual technology conference), where Cisco revealed that Memex’s MERLIN platform would be part of Cisco’s Connected Machines portfolio of solutions. A key component of Cisco’s value proposition is that MERLIN facilitates the real-time calculation of Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE).
• In April, Sun Hydraulics Corp. placed an 89 machine follow-on order for MERLIN MES Enterprise Edition Software, after a successful 11 machine initial phase.
• Q3 saw Memex collect 5 significant new customer project orders and 5 follow on orders from its current customer base. Since quarter-end Memex has added another 2 new customer projects and 2 follow on orders.
• In June, Management finalized arrangements and completed the early payout of lender, Business Development Bank of Canada. The early payout eliminated future interest and royalty payments.

About Memex Inc.

Memex Inc., the developer of MERLIN, an award winning IIoT technology platform that delivers tangible increases in manufacturing productivity in Real-Time, is the global leader in machine to machine connectivity solutions. Committed to its mission of “Successfully transforming factories of today into factories of the future” and encouraged by the accelerating adoption and success of MERLIN, Memex is relentlessly pursuing the development of increasingly innovative solutions suitable in the IIoT era. Memex envisions converting every machine into a node on the corporate network, thereby, creating visibility from shop-floor-to-top-floor. Memex, with its deep commitment towards machine connectivity, offers solutions that are focused on finding hidden capacity by measuring and managing Real-Time data. This empowers Memex’s customers to effectively quantify and manage OEE, reduce costs and incorporate strategies for continuous lean improvement. For more information, please visit: www.MemexOEE.com

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation services provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

¹ This non-IFRS financial measure is identified, defined and reconciled to the closest IFRS measure, revenue, within our Management’s Discussion and Analysis for the three and six month periods ended March 31, 2016 and 2015, in the section “Other Financial Measures.” That MD&A is available at www.sedar.com under our company profile.

For investor inquiries please contact:

Ed Crymble, Chief Financial Officer 905-331-4343 ed.crymble@MemexOEE.com

David McPhail, President & CEO 519-993-1114 david.mcphail@MemexOEE.com

Sean Peasgood, Investor Relations
416-565-2801
sean@sophiccapital.com

How to get maximum returns from Smart Manufacturing?

“How to get maximum returns from Smart Manufacturing?”   is the new question abuzz in the manufacturing world. The industry has recognized that adding sensors to machines is not enough and a lot more needs to be done to ensure tangible business outcomes. MEMEX Inc. with its vision to convert every machine into a node on the corporate network brings to you Smart Tips for Smart Manufacturing

Dynamic Dashboards are your best friends: Use dynamic easy to interact dashboards, throughout the shop floor, to create a culture of ownership and strengthen the team along with setting clear concise guidelines and expectation. Foster intrapreneurial attitude: Employees are the best agents of positive change. Empower, through data, every employee to be the driver and the influencer of the continuous improvement process. Constant vigilance: Businesses need to be continuously exploring relevant non-intrusive, easy to adopt, data-driven solutions that furthers their manufacturing initiatives for maximum efficiency.

Harness Real-Time information for maximize OEE:   Machine connectivity is only a baseline requirement. It’s the actual analysis of the Real-Time data and the decisions, taken on basis of that analysis, that result in tangible business outcomes. No machine gets left behind:   With every machine, new or old, acting as a node on the company network a business can achieve the targeted OEE and outcomes.

With MEMEX explore the wide world of possibilities in Smart Manufacturing at IMTS 2016 Discover the optimum tools needed to plan and execute successful Smart Manufacturing strategies along with other components to enhance machine productivity  DNC | memory upgrades | much more   Info@MemexOEE.com Toll Free: +1 (866) 573-3895 Copyright © 2016 MEMEX Inc., All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you have indicated an interest in MEMEX IIoT manufacturing productivity products. Our mailing address is: MEMEX Inc 3425 Harvester Rd, Suite 105 Burlington, ON L7N 3N1 Canada

God Bless My Godmother - Dorothy Johnson of Glen Ellen, CA

Today at 7:45am Pacific, my Godmother Dorothy Johnson of Glen Ellen, CA passed away from cancer at the age of 89.

If you want to easily share this link, you can tell people to go to http://tinyurl.com/GodBlessDorothy

 Below is Dorothy and me in November of 2011 in her backyard.

 

Below is when we went out to eat at the Black Bear Restaurant which was a favorite place to grab lunch.  Below is Dorothy with her youngest son Lynn standing and Jane is wife sitting.

 

What I will remember most was, whenever I spoke with her she always said, "David, I am so proud of you! You turned out so good!"  She would always end the call with "I love you David."    Looking back, I think she firmly understood that it is important to set the bar for people in life and her praise was really more about encouragement and looking forward, rather than looking backward.  Dorothy was born in 1927 and needless to say she saw a tremendous amount in her lifetime.

The last time we went out to lunch was in March of this year.  My wife Julie was there, along with our oldest son John, John's wife Janet and Lynn.  At the end of the lunch I asked Dorothy, "Dorothy, you lived a long time, what was the happiest day of your life?"  Lynn looked at me and then Dorothy with a look of, "that's an interesting question."  She replied,  "it was not one day, but two days.  The day Jim came back from the war and the day that Lynn came back." She then went on to tell me the story of how Jim extended his tour to make sure that his brother would not have to extend his tour.  This had to do with two brothers being in combat during the same tour.

Above is a photo from my blog post last summer when we went out to CA for a family vacation.  While we did a  lot of cool things, to me the highlight was seeing my mother (on the right) and my Aunt Dorothy below just get together and talk.   My mother, Aunt Dorothy and their sister Mary used to speak EVERY night.  Let me repeat that every night.  I know this is a big loss to my mother and my aunt Mary, but when you look at the incredible health challenges Dorothy had the past few months, she is in a much better place.

Below is my all time favorite photo of Dorothy and me in my 1998 Corvette after we went for a spirited ride in 2007 when she visited out in VA.  This is how I am going to remember Dorothy Johnson....

Below are photos from Dorothy's Memorial Service.

Above are John and Janet in front of the Church where they had the service.

Above is a photo album showing my mother's painting she made of the farm where Dorothy, my mother, their sister Mary, brothers Tat, Donnie and Carl.  Their parents were Melvin and Dora Thompson.

Below is one of Dorothy's favorite sweaters she received from her family.

AMT’s Emerging Technology Center Showcase at IMTS 2016

I always look forward to the ETC at IMTS and below is a press release I just received.  I am especially looking forward to the all electric Shelby Cobra and as someone who has a titanium hip, I am looking forward to the "interactive image of the human body that highlights medical implants and prosthetics now (or soon to be) manufactured by 3D printing."  Who knows how many prosthetics I am end up with before I bite the bullet! :-)

 

AMT’s Emerging Technology Center will showcase displays of the most exciting new products made through additive manufacturing including a home, vehicles, and medical implants.

AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology – is known for displaying and demonstrating new and extraordinary manufacturing technologies at IMTS – The International Manufacturing Technology Show, and IMTS 2016 (Sept. 12 – 17) is no exception. This year, premier exhibits include Additive Manufacturing, Integrated Energies and Smart Manufacturing in the show’s Emerging Technology Center (ETC), a showcase for current and near-future state-of-the-art manufacturing technologies. Premier exhibits at IMTS 2016 include three “proof of concept” additive manufacturing (3D printed) displays:

• The “additive bionic human” showing additive manufactured medical implants and body parts.
• The AMIE (Additive Manufacturing Integrated Energy) project from the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) demonstrates rapid innovation through additive manufacturing to connect a natural gas-powered hybrid electric vehicle to a high-performance building that produces, consumes and stores renewable energy.
• An all-electric Shelby Cobra replica and a 1952 Willys Army Jeep reproduction. Using Big Area Additive Manufacturing, or BAAM technology, the ORNL advanced manufacturing team produced the Shelby Cobra replica in only 24 hours at DOE’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility at ORNL.

“The ETC is world-renowned for showcasing projects and disruptive technologies that were previously known to only a few. We want the ETC to challenge pre-conceived notions of how manufacturing performs at its best,” says Peter R. Eelman, Vice President – Exhibitions & Business Development at AMT, which owns and manages IMTS.

Since its debut at IMTS 2004, the ETC has become a ‘must visit’ destination. For example, the world’s first 3D printed car was built live in the ETC exhibit at IMTS 2014, and the now-famous “Strati” vehicle received prime-time media acclaim. At IMTS 2016, 3D printed cars from Local Motors (one of the pioneers behind the Strati) will be available for rides at an indoor test track in C Hall of the North Building, demonstrating how quickly extraordinary technology can become part of popular culture.

The Additive Bionic Human

The additive bionic human portion of the ETC, being developed in conjunction with additive manufacturing leader EOS North America, will feature an interactive image of the human body that highlights medical implants and prosthetics now (or soon to be) manufactured by 3D printing. Touch screen technology will take a participant deeper into the story from three points of view: the patient view, the medical view (the medical science behind the part) and the 3D technology view.

Actual printed body parts on display included cranial implants, tracheal implants, dental implants, rib cage, leg prosthesis, joints and hands. The 3D printed hand open source CAD files are accessible for free as the part of the efforts of the Enable Community Foundation, which advances and extends e-NABLE, a global network of “digital humanitarians.”

“Designing, fabricating and providing free prosthesis-like hands demonstrates how companies, people and technology converge to enrich humanity,” says Eelman.

Enabling the Future is a leading example of this humanitarian collaboration. The organization made it possible for high school student Gabriel Filippini to use his classroom’s 3D printer to build a hand for his little brother, Lucas. Kurt O’Connor, Technology teacher at Loudoun County’s Park View High School in Sterling, Va., was used to smaller, less sophisticated projects but welcomed the challenge to 3D print a prosthetic hand to help Lucas. The successful project has inspired O’Connor to take on further prosthetic 3D printing projects in the classroom.

In addition to whole parts, “bio-printing” shrinks additive body parts to the cellular level, such as printing liver tissue for drug research or printing blood vessels and cartilage for replacement of a damaged meniscus.

“Tissue engineering is a growing science,” says Eelman. “The implications of printing living tissue structures in the medical industry are astounding, and we want to show people some of the possibilities.”

The AMIE Project

The AMIE Project, led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory, examines and demonstrates how additive manufacturing can be used to create a symbiotic relationship between energy and the way we live.

“The premise of the AMIE project is to merge the energy streams of our homes and vehicles. It changes the way we think about generating, consuming and storing power,” says Dr. Craig Blue, Oak Ridge National Laboratory. “From concept to reality in just 12 months, the project provides a preview of the potential of energy efficiency and sustainability.”

With AMIE, the home can use energy from the grid or from the photovoltaic panels integrated into its roof, while battery in the home stores surplus solar energy for cloudy days. The home also features a wireless charging pad in the driveway. Bi-directional wireless energy flow allows the building to charge the hybrid vehicle’s battery, and the vehicle can also supply energy to the home during peak demand. Additionally, the home can send excess energy back into the grid for consumption elsewhere.

An App for Staying Current

One of the biggest challenges manufacturers face is staying current with new technology. So that manufacturers can keep abreast with daily developments, AMT will unveil the first iteration of a new software application (app) that tracks and provides readers with the latest technology advancements.

“This app goes beyond a traditional RSS feed. It’s a true aggregator of manufacturing research from multiple sources that custom-compiles research as defined by the user,” says Eelman. “The app debuts as an information piece in AMT’s ETC, and visitors can test some of the beta-versions in the AMT Experience.”

With its location off the Grand Concourse in the North Building, the ETC should be the first “must stop” destination for IMTS visitors.

» Find out more about the ETC

» View the ETC Showroom

---

READ MORE IMTS

Great Start For Republican Convention - Plagiarizing Michelle Obama

How is this possible?  Yet another example of a sloppy, sloppy campaign....

Senator Scott Offers Solutions to America's Race Problem and Shares Personal Experiences with Law Enforcement Officers as Black Man on Senate Floor

Senator Scott from South Carolina gives a very well thought out offering solutions to today's race problems. The Senator gave three talks on race relations in the United Sates.

If you think there is not a difference between driving when you're white and black, then you do not have enough black friends.  I have three sons and I NEVER had to have the talk "how to act and what you MUST do when a police officer pulls you over."

CSPAN combined his three talks together below.

Cisco Presentation Discussed Collaboration With Business Partner MEMEX

LAS VEGAS, NV–(Marketwired – Jul 18, 2016) – Memex Inc. (“MEMEX” or the “Company”) (TSX VENTURE: OEE) was pleased to exhibit their award-winning Manufacturing Execution System, MERLIN, at the invitation of Cisco Systems Inc. as part of their Connected Machines Strategy at Cisco Live in Las Vegas from July 10-14. MERLIN was on display at Booth 109 in the World of Solutions pavilion, located in the Mandalay Bay Convention Center.

MERLIN captured and presented live data from both onsite and remotely connected machines securely over the Internet via Cisco’s newly released IE4K switch. The IE4K is compliant with MTConnect (the open source and royalty free interconnectivity communication standard), which collectively form an integral part of any manufacturing company’s Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) strategy. This enables the promise of Data Driven Manufacturing centric business outcomes.

MEMEX Featured in Cisco’s Machine Intelligence PresentationMEMEX is also pleased to announce that Douglas Bellin from Cisco presented “The Case for Machine Intelligence,” which featured what Cisco has done with business partner MEMEX. The presentation took place at 4:30pm on July 13, 2016 in the Islander D space at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center.

About Cisco Connected MachinesThe Cisco Connected Machine Solution is a digital solution portfolio, based on the Cisco IoT system. The solution enables rapid and repeatable machine connectivity, providing business improvements such as: Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) and machine monitoring, Machine optimization Predictive maintenance, Process optimization, and Process health.

About Cisco LiveCisco Live Las Vegas is the destination for the education and inspiration you need to thrive in the world of digital business. Join thousands of technology innovators for a transformational experience that includes today’s IT visionary thought leaders, more than 1,000 education sessions, Cisco’s top partners, and numerous opportunities to build the connections that will fuel your personal and professional growth.

About Memex Inc.MEMEX Inc., the developer of MERLIN, an award winning IIoT technology platform that delivers tangible increases in manufacturing productivity in Real-Time, is the global leader in machine to machine connectivity solutions. Committed to its mission of “Successfully transforming factories of today into factories of the future” and encouraged by the accelerating adoption and success of MERLIN, MEMEX is relentlessly pursuing the development of increasingly innovative solutions suitable in the IIoT era. MEMEX envisions converting every machine into a node on the corporate network, thereby, creating visibility from shop-floor-to-top-floor. MEMEX, with its deep commitment towards machine connectivity, offers solutions that are focused on finding hidden capacity by measuring and managing Real-Time data. This empowers MEMEX’s customers to effectively quantify and manage OEE, reduce costs and incorporate strategies for continuous lean improvement. For more information, please visit: www.MemexOEE.com

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation services provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

CONTACT INFORMATION

For investor inquiries please contact:Ed Crymble
Chief Financial Officer
905-635-1540 ext. 110
ed.crymble@MemexOEE.comDavid McPhail
President & CEO
519-993-1114
david.mcphail@MemexOEE.comSean Peasgood
Investor Relations
416-565-2801
sean@sophiccapital.com

The Movie Particle Fever

I watched the move "Particle Fever" on Netflix and thought it was excellent. The reviews have been outstanding. You do not have to have a Ph.D. in physics to absolutely become enthralled in the entire story of the Large Hadron Collider and Higgs boson particle as told through the eyes of a young physicist who realized how important these topics were and felt it should be captured on film.

As the movie's description states:

"As the Large Hadron Collider is about to be launched for the first time, physicists are on the cusp of the greatest scientific discovery of all time -- or perhaps their greatest failure."

Below is a nice summary from wikipedia:

"Particle Fever is a 2013 American documentary film tracking the first round of experiments at the Large Hadron Collider near Geneva, Switzerland. The film follows the experimental physicists at CERN who run the experiments, as well as the theoretical physicists who attempt to provide a conceptual framework for the LHC's results. The film begins in 2008 with the first firing of the LHC and concludes in 2012 with the successful identification of the Higgs boson.

The Communication Awards of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine awarded a $20,000 prize for excellence in communicating science to the general public in Film/Radio/TV to David Kaplan and Mark Levinson for "Particle Fever" on October 14, 2015. The awards are given to individuals in four categories: books, film/radio/TV, magazine/newspaper and online, and are supported by the W. M. Keck Foundation."

Trump and Pence on 60 Minutes Was Dumb and Dumber

I watch 60 Minutes tonight and I swear to god that I was watching Dumb and Dumber!  If ANYONE watched these two knuckleheads and think they should be the next President and Vice President then they either have rocks in their head, or they believe in the "Let Rome Burn" type of logic for the United States.

Below is Pence with Chris Matthews and he can't he even answer if he believes in evolution or not.  He does not believe in global climate change.  Pence truly is Sarah Palin II.

An open letter from technology sector leaders on Donald Trump’s candidacy for President

The letter below is all true, but what is incredibly disappointing is the lack of the truly big names and leaders in tech today.

"We are inventors, entrepreneurs, engineers, investors, researchers, and business leaders working in the technology sector. We are proud that American innovation is the envy of the world, a source of widely-shared prosperity, and a hallmark of our global leadership.

We believe in an inclusive country that fosters opportunity, creativity and a level playing field. Donald Trump does not. He campaigns on anger, bigotry, fear of new ideas and new people, and a fundamental belief that America is weak and in decline. We have listened to Donald Trump over the past year and we have concluded: Trump would be a disaster for innovation. His vision stands against the open exchange of ideas, free movement of people, and productive engagement with the outside world that is critical to our economy — and that provide the foundation for innovation and growth.

Let’s start with the human talent that drives innovation forward. We believe that America’s diversity is our strength. Great ideas come from all parts of society, and we should champion that broad-based creative potential. We also believe that progressive immigration policies help us attract and retain some of the brightest minds on earth — scientists, entrepreneurs, and creators. In fact, 40% of Fortune 500 companies were founded by immigrants or their children. Donald Trump, meanwhile, traffics in ethnic and racial stereotypes, repeatedly insults women, and is openly hostile to immigration. He has promised a wall, mass deportations, and profiling.

We also believe in the free and open exchange of ideas, including over the Internet, as a seed from which innovation springs. Donald Trump proposes “shutting down” parts of the Internet as a security strategy — demonstrating both poor judgment and ignorance about how technology works. His penchant to censor extends to revoking press credentials and threatening to punish media platforms that criticize him.

Finally, we believe that government plays an important role in the technology economy by investing in infrastructure, education and scientific research. Donald Trump articulates few policies beyond erratic and contradictory pronouncements. His reckless disregard for our legal and political institutions threatens to upend what attracts companies to start and scale in America. He risks distorting markets, reducing exports, and slowing job creation.

We stand against Donald Trump’s divisive candidacy and want a candidate who embraces the ideals that built America’s technology industry: freedom of expression, openness to newcomers, equality of opportunity , public investments in research and infrastructure, and respect for the rule of law. We embrace an optimistic vision for a more inclusive country, where American innovation continues to fuel opportunity, prosperity and leadership."

*DISCLAIMER: The individuals listed below have endorsed in their personal capacity and this does not reflect the endorsement of any organization, corporation or entity to which they are affiliated. Titles and affiliations of each individual are provided for identification purposes only.

Marvin Ammori, General Counsel, Hyperloop One
Adrian Aoun, Founder/CEO, Forward
Greg Badros, Founder, Prepared Mind Innovations; Former Engineering VP, Facebook
Clayton Banks, Co-Founder, Silicon Harlem
Phin Barnes, Partner, First Round Capital
Niti Bashambu, Chief Analytics Officer, IAC Applications
John Battelle, Founder/CEO, NewCo, Inc.
Ayah Bdeir, Founder/CEO, Little Bits
Piraye Beim, Founder/CEO, Celmatix
Marc Bodnick, Co-Founder, Elevation Partners
John Borthwick, Founder/CEO, Betaworks
Matt Brezina, Co-Founder, Sincerely and Xobni
Stacy Brown-Philpot, CEO, TaskRabbit
Brad Burnham, Managing Partner, Union Square Ventures
Stewart Butterfield, Co-Founder/CEO, Slack
Troy Carter, Founder/CEO, Atom Factory
Sukhinder Singh Cassidy, Founder/CEO, Joyus
Vint Cerf, Internet Pioneer
Amy Chang, Founder/CEO, Accompany
Aneesh Chopra, President, NavHealth; Former US CTO
Patrick Chung, General Partner, Xfund
Tod Cohen, General Counsel, StubHub
Stephen DeBerry, Founder/Managing Partner, Bronze Investments
Peter Diamandis, Entrepreneur; Author, Abundance and BOLD
Barry Diller, Chairman, Expedia and IAC
Esther Dyson, Executive Founder, Way to Wellville; Investor
Amy Errett, Founder/CEO, Madison Reed
Caterina Fake, Founder/CEO, Findery; Co-Founder, Flickr
Christopher Farmer, Founder/CEO, SignalFire
Brad Feld, Managing Director, Foundry Group; Co-Founder, Techstars
Josh Felser, Co-Founder, Freestyle Capital & ClimateX
Hajj Flemings, Founder/CEO, Brand Camp University
Natalie Foster, Co-Founder, Peers
David Grain, Founder/Managing Partner, Grain Management, LLC
Brad Hargreaves, Founder/CEO, Common
Donna Harris, Co-Founder/Co-CEO, 1776
Scott Heiferman, Co-Founder/CEO, Meetup
David Hornik, General Partner, August Capital
Terry Howerton, CEO, TechNexus
Reed Hundt, Former Chair, FCC
Minnie Ingersoll, COO, Shift Technologies
Sami Inkinen, Founder/CEO, Virta Health; Co-Founder, Trulia
Craig Isakow, Head of Revenue, Shift Technologies
Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr., President and Founder, Rainbow PUSH Coalition
Irwin Jacobs, Founding Chairman/CEO Emeritus, Qualcomm Inc
Paul Jacobs, Executive Chairman, Qualcomm Inc
Leila Janah, Founder/CEO, Sama & Laxmi
Sujay Jaswa, Former CFO, Dropbox; Founder, Witt Capital Partners
Mark Josephson, CEO, Bitly
Sep Kamvar, Professor, MIT
David Karp, Founder/CEO, Tumblr
Jed Katz, Managing Director, Javelin Venture Partners
Kim Keenan, President/CEO, Multicultural Media, Telecom & Internet Council
Ben Keighran, Entrepreneur; Former Design Lead, Apple
William Kennard, Former Chair, FCC
Vinod Khosla, Founder, Khosla Ventures; Co-Founder, SUN Microsystems
Ron Klain, Executive Vice President, Revolution LLC
Walter Kortschak, Former Managing Partner and Senior Advisor, Summit Partners
Jared Kopf, Founder AdRoll, HomeRun, Worldly
Joseph Kopser, Co-Founder, Ridescout
Karen Kornbluh, Former US Ambassador, OECD
Othman Laraki, Co-Founder/President, Color Genomics
Miles Lasater, Serial Entrepreneur
Jeff Lawson, CEO, Twilio
Aileen Lee, Founder/Managing Partner, Cowboy Ventures
Bobby Lent, Managing Partner, Hillsven Capital
Aaron Levie, Co-Founder/CEO, Box
John Lilly, Partner, Greylock Partners
Bruce Lincoln, Co-Founder, Silicon Harlem
Ruth Livier, President, Livier Productions, Inc.
Mark Lloyd, Professor of Communication, University of Southern California — Annenberg School
Luther Lowe, VP of Public Policy, Yelp
Nancy Lublin, Founder/CEO, Crisis Text Line
Kanyi Maqubela, Partner, Collaborative Fund
Jonathan Matus, Founder/CEO, Zendrive
Josh McFarland, Vice President of Product, Twitter
Andrew McLaughlin, Head of New Business, Medium; Venture Partner, betaworks
Shishir Mehrotra, Entrepreneur & former VP of Product & Engineering, YouTube
Apoorva Mehta, Founder/CEO, Instacart
Doug Merritt, CEO, Splunk
Dinesh Moorjani, Founder/CEO, Hatch Labs; Co-Founder, Tinder
Brit Morin, Founder/CEO, Brit + Co
Dave Morin, Founder and Partner, Slow Ventures
Dustin Moskovitz, Co-Founder, Asana; Co-Founder, Facebook
Amanda Moskowitz, Founder/CEO, Stacklist
Alex Nogales, President/CEO, National Hispanic Media Coalition
Alexis Ohanian, Co-Founder, Reddit
Mike Olson, Founder/Chairman/CSO, Cloudera
Pierre Omidyar, Founder, eBay
Felix W. Ortiz III, Founder/Chairman/CEO, Viridis; Board Member of The NYC Technology Development Corporation
Jen Pahlka, Founder/Executive Director, Code for America
Barney Pell, Founder Powerset, MoonExpress, Locomobi; Founding Trustee, Singularity University
Mark Pincus, Executive Chairman and Founder, Zynga
Shervin Pishevar, Co-Founder/Managing Director, Sherpa Capital and Co-Founder/Executive Chairman of Hyperloop One
Brandon Pollack, Director of Global Affairs, 1776
Amy Rao, Founder/CEO, Integrated Archive Systems, Inc.
Eric Ries, Entrepreneur & Author, The Lean Startup
Justin Rosenstein, Co-Founder, Asana
Alec Ross, Author, The Industries of the Future
Javier Saade, Venture Capitalist; Former Associate Administrator, SBA
Chris Sacca, Founder/Chairman, Lowercase Capital
Dave Samuel, Co-Founder, Freestyle Capital
Julie Samuels, Executive Director, Tech:NYC
Reshma Saujani, Founder, Girls Who Code
Chris Schroeder, Venture Investor; Author, Startup Rising
Jake Schwartz, Co-Founder/CEO, General Assembly
Robert Scoble, Entrepreneur in Residence and Futurist, Upload VR
Kim Malone Scott, CEO, Candor, Inc; Former Director, Google
Tina Sharkey, Partner, Sherpa Foundry & Sherpa Capital
Clara Shih, Co-Founder/CEO, Hearsay Social
Shivani Siroya, Founder/CEO, InVenture
Steve Smith, Executive Director, Public Policy Institute, Government Relations & Telecommunications Project, Rainbow PUSH Coalition
Jonathan Spalter, Chair, Mobile Future
DeShuna Spencer, CEO, kweliTV
Katie Stanton, CMO, Color Genomics; Former VP of Global Media, Twitter
Jenny Stefanotti, Co-Founder, OneProject; Board of Directors, Ushahidi
Debbie Sterling, Founder/CEO, Goldiblox
Seth Sternberg, Co-Founder/CEO, Honor
Margaret Stewart, Vice President of Product Design, Facebook
Jeremy Stoppelman, CEO, Yelp
Michael Stoppelman, SVP, Engineering, Yelp
Baratunde Thurston, Former supervising producer, The Daily Show with Trevor Noah; Co-Founder, Cultivated Wit
Stephanie Tilenius, Founder/CEO, Vida Health; Board of Directors, Seagate Technology
Richard D. Titus, Entrepreneur; SVP, Samsung
Anne Toth, VP of Policy & Compliance, Slack
Bill Trenchard, Partner, First Round Capital
April Underwood, VP of Product, Slack
Max Ventilla, Founder/CEO, AltSchool
Tabreez Verjee, Co-Founder/Partner Uprising; Board Director Kiva.org
Jimmy Wales, Founder of Wikipedia
Hunter Walk, Partner, Homebrew VC; Former Director of Product Management, Google
Tristan Walker, Founder/CEO, Walker & Company Brands, Inc.; Founder/Chairman, Code 2040
Ari Wallach, CEO, Synthesis Corp.
Padmasree Warrior, CEO, NextEV USA; Former CTSO, Cisco
Laura Weidman Powers, Co-Founder/CEO, Code2040
Kevin Weil, Head of Product, Instagram
Phil Weiser, Hatfield Professor of Law, University of Colorado and Executive Director of the Silicon Flatirons Center
Daniel J. Weitzner, Principal Research Scientist, Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Emily White, Entrepreneur; Former COO, Snapchat
Ev Williams, Founder/CEO, Medium; Co-Founder Twitter, Blogger
Monique Woodward, Venture Partner, 500 Startups
Steve Wozniak, Co-Founder, Apple
Tim Wu, Professor of Law, Columbia University
Andrew Yang, Founder/CEO, Venture for America
Arielle Zuckerberg, Partner, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers

Machine Learning In Manufacturing

Machine learning is and will become very significant not only in everyday life, but specifically in manufacturing. In 2017, we will see machine learning in manufacturing in a very significant way.

Here is a very interesting article by Vivek Wadhwa in The Washington Post titled:

The amazing artificial intelligence we were promised is coming, finally

"The AI of the past used brute-force computing to analyze data and present them in a way that seemed human.  The programmer supplied the intelligence in the form of decision trees and algorithms.  Imagine that you were trying to build a machine that could play tic-tac-toe. You would give it specific rules on what move to make, and it would follow them. That is essentially how IBM’s Big Blue computer beat chess Grandmaster Garry Kasparov in 1997, by using a supercomputer to calculate every possible move faster than he could.

Today’s AI uses machine learning in which you give it examples of previous games and let it learn from those examples. The computer is taught what to learn and how to learn and makes its own decisions.  What’s more, the new AIs are modeling the human mind itself using techniques similar to our learning processes.  Before, it could take millions of lines of computer code to perform tasks such as handwriting recognition. Now it can be done in hundreds of lines. What is required is a large number of examples so that the computer can teach itself."

I really like the point that Kevin Kelly brings out in the article:  

"AI has applications in every area in which data are processed and decisions required. Wired founding editor Kevin Kelly likened AI to electricity: a cheap, reliable, industrial-grade digital smartness running behind everything.  He said that it “will enliven inert objects, much as electricity did more than a century ago. Everything that we formerly electrified we will now ‘cognitize.’ This new utilitarian AI will also augment us individually as people (deepening our memory, speeding our recognition) and collectively as a species. There is almost nothing we can think of that cannot be made new, different, or interesting by infusing it with some extra IQ.  In fact, the business plans of the next 10,000 start-ups are easy to forecast: Take X and add AI. This is a big deal, and now it’s here.”

The FBI's Report on Hillary Clinton's Private Email

It appears that almost EVERYTHING that Hillary Clinton stated about her email was a lie.

She should have been charged with treason....

As much as no on trusts the Clinton's (for good reason), we will have to hold our noses and vote for her because Trump would be such an unmitigated disaster.

The Experiment of Raising Taxes on the Rich in California

This is a very interesting experiment on what happens when you raise taxes on the rich.  California was a freaking mess and the Republicans would state that you MUST reduce taxes.  Bill Maher rips this economic falsehood apart with what REALLY happened in California when taxes were raised on the rich:

Oracle and Java

This is an excellent (and long) article on what Oracle is doing (or not doing) with Java.  The article by Sean Gallagher is titled:

How Oracle’s business as usual is threatening to kill Java

Sean should be congratulated for such detailed and excellent analysis.

As an old SUNWer, this causes me to either shake my head in disgust or to speak in expletives.

The article in arstechnica starts off:

"Stop me if you've heard this one before: Oracle has quietly pulled funding and development efforts away from a community-driven technology where customers and partners have invested time and code. It all seems to be happening for no reason other than the tech isn't currently printing money.

It's a familiar pattern for open source projects that have become the property of Oracle. It started with OpenSolaris and continued with OpenOffice.org. And this time, it's happening to Java—more specifically to Java Enterprise Edition (Java EE), the server-side Java technology that is part of hundreds of thousands of Internet and business applications. Java EE even plays an integral role for many apps that aren't otherwise based on Java."

An excellent (and sad) read....

Net Neutrality Win Is A For Humanity (as Sun Microsystems Scott McNealy Would Have Said :-)

This is a really, really big deal.  

Five and half years ago I blogged on this topic and I called it "Net Neutrality In A Nutshell"

Three years ago I blogged on where the co-fathers of the Internet stand on this topic:

Two years ago I blogged on why this is a big deal.

Below is a snippet from the article by The Washington Post's Brian Fung titled:

Cable and telecom companies just lost a huge court battle on net neutrality

"A federal appeals court has voted to uphold a series of strict new rules for Internet providers, handing a major victory to regulators in the fight over net neutrality and ensuring that one of the most sweeping changes to hit the industry in recent years will likely remain on the books.

The 2-1 court ruling Tuesday forces Internet providers such as Verizon and Comcast to obey federal regulations that ban the blocking or slowing of Internet traffic to consumers. The regulations from the Federal Communications Commission also forbid carriers from selectively speeding up websites that agree to pay the providers a fee — a tactic critics have said could unfairly tilt the commercial playing field against startups and innovators who may not be able to afford it."

 Congratulations to the federal appeals court for getting this right!