Reminder: [MC]2 2013 Registration is OPEN!

 [MC]2 2013 MTConnect: Connecting Manufacturing Conference is OPEN!!!

By Dave Edstrom
NOTE: I wrote this for Jan 10, 2013 IMTS Insider


It is with great excitement to announce to the readers of the IMTS Insider that registration is now open for [MC]2 2013 MTConnect: Connecting Manufacturing Conference! [MC]2 2013 will be held in Cincinnati, Ohio on April 10th and 11th at the Millennium Hotel Cincinnati.

[MC]2 2013 will build upon the huge success of the inaugural conference in 2011 where we had industry thought leaders, 175 attendees, numerous speakers, hands-on labs and 24 exhibitors. The exhibitors were displaying commercially available MTConnect-enabled products and giving demonstrations of MTConnect applications in action, some of them for the first time ever.

MTConnect is a true game changer that is revolutionizing manufacturing. [MC]2 2013 will have business and technical content to suit everyone’s needs.

Who Should Attend [MC]2 2013?

• End Users – shop owners, plant managers and anyone in manufacturing interested in improving productivity
• Industry thought leaders
• MTConnect® Institute Participants
• Equipment Suppliers
• Students
• Professors
• Software Developers
• Distributors
• ISVs
• Integrators
• Consultants
• Anyone wanting to learn more about MTConnect

As we all know, technology is a means to an ends and not an end in itself. MTConnect is a set of open, royalty-free standards intended to foster greater interoperability between controls, devices and software applications by publishing data over networks using the Internet Protocol. MTConnect is becoming the de facto standard for manufacturing connectivity. The most obvious application of MTConnect is to connect the shop floor to monitoring applications. It is not unusual for companies that enable their shop floor with MTConnect to see an ROI in months and not years. It is also not unusual for those same companies to integrate the shop floor with the rest of the manufacturing enterprise to have further productivity gains. At [MC]2 2013 you will meet people from the shops and plants who have done this as well as the companies who sell MTConnect-enabled equipment and solutions.
 
There is a sea change happening with manufacturing and MTConnect is at the epicenter of this technology disruption. You cannot manage what you cannot measure and MTConnect provides the plug-n-play mechanism to get real time data off the shop or plant floor so it can be managed effectively. There are many manufacturing conferences to attend each, IMTS being the granddaddy of them all in even numbered years. IMTS is in the “change your schedule to be there” category of trade shows. [MC]2 2013 is in the same category for conferences that you absolutely should attend.
If you are interested in [MC]2 2013, everyone in manufacturing should be interested, then please go to the [MC]2 2013 homepage and register today!


 If you are not sure about attending and have questions, please drop me at note at Dedstrom@MTConnect.org and I will be happy to answer any of your questions regarding [MC]2 2013. [MC]2 2013 is a CAN’T-MISS event of the year!

2014 Corvette Stingray Announced! Codename C7

All I can say is very bold!  Chevrolet just introduced the new 2014 Corvette Stingray at 6pm Central in Detroit tonight.

That Chevrolet brought back the name Stingray is pretty impressive as stated at the National Corvette Museum on the C7.

“Stingray is one of the hallowed names in automotive history,” said Ed Welburn, GM vice president of global design. “We knew we couldn’t use the Stingray name unless the new car truly lived up to the legacy. The result is a new Corvette Stingray that breaks from tradition, while remaining instantly recognizable as a Corvette the world over.”

The article goes on to point out:

“Like the ’63 Sting Ray, the best Corvettes embodied performance leadership, delivering cutting-edge technologies, breathtaking design and awe-inspiring driving experiences,” said General Motors North America President Mark Reuss. “The all-new Corvette goes farther than ever, thanks to today’s advancements in design, technology and engineering.”

The all-new Corvette Stingray shares only two parts with the previous generation Corvette. It incorporates an all-new frame structure and chassis, a new powertrain and supporting technologies, as well as completely new exterior and interior designs. Highlights include:

• An interior that includes real carbon fiber, aluminum and hand-wrapped leather materials, two new seat choices – each featuring a lightweight magnesium frame for exceptional support – and dual eight-inch configurable driver/infotainment screens
• Advanced driver technologies, including a five-position Drive Mode Selector that tailors 12 vehicle attributes to the fit the driver’s environment and a new seven-speed manual transmission with Active Rev Matching that anticipates gear selections and matches engine speed for perfect shifts every time
• An all-new 6.2L LT1 V-8 engine combines advanced technologies, including direct injection, Active Fuel Management, continuously variable valve timing and an advanced combustion system that delivers more power while using less fuel
• Lightweight materials, including a carbon fiber hood and removable roof panel; composite fenders, doors and rear quarter panels; carbon-nano composite underbody panels and a new aluminum frame help shift weight rearward for an optimal 50/50 weight balance that supports a world-class power-to-weight ratio
• A sculptured exterior features advanced high-intensity discharge and light-emitting diode lighting and racing-proven aerodynamics that balance low drag for efficiency and performance elements for improved stability and track capability
• Track-capable Z51 Performance Package including: an electronic limited-slip differential, dry-sump oiling system, integral brake, differential and transmission cooling, as well as a unique aero package that further improves high-speed stability.

 The performance numbers look pretty impressive as well:

"The 2014 Corvette Stingray is the most powerful standard model ever, with an estimated 450 horsepower (335 kW) and 450 lb.-ft. of torque (610 Nm). It is also the most capable standard model ever, able to accelerate from 0-60 in less than four seconds and achieve more than 1g in cornering grip. It is expected to be the most fuel-efficient Corvette, exceeding the EPA-estimated 26 mpg of the current model. "

The best set of hi-res and complete photos are here at Corvette Forum in the C7 section.

I really like everything about the car, but the tail lights are a little Camaro looking to me.  I am looking forward to checking it out live.  I would never buy a 1.0 version of any vehicle though.  Hopefully this will be a big seller for Chevrolet.

The Absolute Easiest Way To Move Your iPhone iTunes Library [From/To] a PC [To/From] A Mac

Here is the absolute easiest way to move an iPhone that is syncing from a Windows PC (XP in this example) to a Mac (this works as well if you do it from a Mac to a PC)  (I know, I personally did this)

First a story on how I got here :-)

I had not done this in awhile, so I did the usual google for the answer and found the typical 15,897,325 hits on the right way to do this.  Since I had AppleCare,  I thought I would just go to Apple Support and have them send me the link.  Right.....   What I was doing was very, very straightforward and frequent event, or so I thought.  I had an old Windows XP box that runs my sprinkler system (don't ask) and was the place where I connected all my devices for syncing including my iPod, iTouch and new iPhone 5.  

I bought a Mac mini with 16GB of RAM and a 1TB hard drive last week (which I love) , so I naturally I wanted to move all those devices over to this new Mac mini.  I went through Apple Care Hell!  The conversation was always the same with the first eight Apple employees I spoke with:

Me:   "I have this old Windows XP box that I used for my iPod, iTouch and new iPhone 5.  I simply want to move those devices over to my new Mac mini, can you send me the link as I can not find it on your Apple Support pages.  Just send me the link so I can do it the most efficient way possible the first time."

Apple Care:  Each of the first 8 Apple Care employees I spoke with basically said the same thing, "You know what Dave, I am not familiar with that, you need to speak to the [insert group they are not currently part of here]

• Mac mini Group
• iTunes Group
• iTouch Group
• iPod Group
• iPhone Group
• Desktop Group
• Mac OS X Group
• Applications Group

I kid you not.  Or, they gave me half baked advice that did not work.  Or, they asked me inane questions like, "are you interested in keeping what you have?"    No, I want to lose everything that I paid for and buy it again was what I wanted to say.  What part of I want to keep everything was so hard to grasp?

After person number 4 (I was feeling unusually patient) I started to press them on if they had ACTUALLY DONE THIS.  If the answer was no, the I asked to be transferred.   My second person in Advanced Support gives me WRONG instructions and then asks, "can we call you back to see how it went?"   Sure, I tell them, call me tomorrow.

Tomorrow comes.  The 9th person calls.  I tell them what the 8th person says and they say, "yeah, they gave you bad advice Dave, let me tell how to do this."  At this point I am livid.   I then go through the entire history and ask the person for their qualifications.  25 years in the computer industry, four at Apple and they have done this countless times.  Great, I tell them.  Finally a competent Apple Care Support employee!

Below are the instructions from Apple Care person #9 with my additional notes.   His name was Gary and he was great.  He was very nice and apologized for the other 8 Apple Care Support employees.  I like Apple, but this experience was absolutely ridiculous!  Apple sent me their, "How did we do?" survey.   Really Apple?   Your data shows that your customer went through nine calls and you are asking how did it go?  Take a wild guess Tim Cook.

Anyway, below absolutely works to move your iPhone from a Windows XP box to a new Mac because I did it:

1. goto Windows XP box
2. Startup iTunes and go into File-->Library-->Consolidate
• this will consolidate EVERYTHING including your CDs that you moved over to this system  - this step is KEY!
• this might take a few seconds to a few minutes depending on the amount of CDs you have that you moved over and did not buy from iTunes
3. You need to copy the ENTIRE folder on the XP box that is (typically) in My Documents/My Music/iTunes to a drive, USB or network location so it can be copied into your home directory called Music on the new Mac.  Below is from Apple Support:
   
   
   • Mac OS X: /Users/username/Music/iTunes/
   • Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\username\My Documents\My Music\iTunes\
   • Windows Vista: C:\Users\username\Music\iTunes\
   • Windows 7: C:\Users\username\My Music\iTunes\
   • Windows 8: C:\Users\username\My Music\iTunes\
    See What are the iTunes Library files? for more information.
   About the iTunes Media folder
   
   Note: You may have an "iTunes Music" folder instead of an iTunes Media folder.
   By default, your iTunes Media folder is located within your iTunes folder and it contains all your media files including:
   
   •  Items you imported from CDs.
   • Items you purchased from the iTunes Store.
   • Any other items you brought into iTunes (if you enabled the option to "Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library" in iTunes Preferences). 
   • See Understanding iTunes Media Organization for more information.

1. goto the Mac
2. startup iTunes
3. login to iTunes
4. authorize this computer in iTunes
5. quit iTunes and make sure iTunes is not running by doing the [apple key] Q  to get it completely out of the process table - this is important you can verify it is not running by looking at your Activity Monitor and look for iTunes running.  Do not worry if you iTunes Helper, as that is always running and is ok to run during this process.
6. in a terminal window on the Mac (yes, this is for geeks :-)

• cd ~Music    (Note: this is Music directory in your home folder, NOT iTunes Music  Yes, this is counter-intuitive
• mv iTunes iTunes.ORIG
• cp the iTunes directory above to the ~/Music on your Mac    (I had to do this over the net since it was 47GB in size and I did not feel like cleaning things up, nor did I have a big enough USB drive nor did I have an external hard drive lining around

       If you are not a geek and do not use terminal window on Mac

• Start up Finder
• click on the Music directory in your home folder
• rename iTunes to iTunes.ORIG or something else beside iTunes
• copy that Folder (which will have a number of Folders and files in it) from whatever device you used in step 3 above to the Music directory aka Folder 
• When you have completed this, you should be able to click on your Music folder and see iTunes.  When you click on iTunes you should see a variety of folders and files such as:
  
  Album Artwork                         iTunes Library.itl
  Previous iTunes Libraries           iTunes Music
  Temp File.tmp                          iTunes Music Library.xml
  iTunes Library Extras.itdb          sentinel
  iTunes Library Genius.itdb
  
  Don't worry if it does not match directly, the point is most of these files will be there.

1. restart iTunes on your Mac and it SHOULD just find everything.  If you get a strange error (for example, "no pairing record for iPhone), then the best cure is to reboot your system and go back into iTunes).  You will receive the following:
2. 
   
• Updating iTunes Library
• it will ask you to authorize non-iTunes accounts like Audible
• The trick here was that Audible requires the Amazon login/password even though it specifically states it wants the Audible login/password.  I called Audible and Amazon owns Audible, so Amazon is considered the Audible account for iTunes.  If you try to use your Audible only account, it will fail.
• this is a good time to setup iCloud if you have not and want to.
• goto iTunes-->Store-->Preferences-->Automatic Downloads and select Music, Apps and Books
• on your iPhone, goto Settings-->iTunes & App Store -->Automatic Downloads and select Music and Apps
• If you have an iPhone 5 and the unlimited data option, you might want to also turn on Use Cellular Data because of the speed of LTE/4G
• iTunes match stores all of your music (copied over from CDs to your library) in the cloud, but currently costs $24.99 a year to store it in the cloud to have it available on any device
  
• If you want to import your photos in, the first time you plugin your iPhone into your Mac and will ask you to import them in.  Obviously this will take as long as necessary for the amount of photos that you have.
• After everything is up fine, you can go ahead and remove the iTunes.orig directory/folder to save space.  One could argue you could have deleted it right away, but that is a topic for a different discussion :-)
3. Go deauthorize your old Windows XP box
   
   You should now be good to go with using your iPhone on your new Mac system!

Designing Software Like A Willy's Jeep

Software should be designed the same way as the Willy's Jeep.  Check out this video.  This video has been out there awhile, but it clearly shows of well defined interfaces that can separate the interface from the implementation.

Registration is Now Open For [MC]2 2013!

Are you ready? Ready to find out how MTConnect can take your shop floor further?  Ready to discover new applications and ideas for your current use of MTConnect? You can learn about all this and more at [MC]2 MTConnect: Connecting Manufacturing Conference, taking place April 10-11, 2013, at The Millennium Hotel Cincinnati in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Registration is now open for this exciting and dynamic conference, which will once again feature business sessions to show you how MTConnect can improve your bottom line, as well as hands-on technical sessions that will focus on the finer details of using and developing MTConnect. Everyone will come together for general sessions that will give an overarching view of both manufacturing and MTConnect.

All the details are available at MTConnectConference.com. We look forward to seeing you in Cincinnati!