Delivery of My New 2016 Corvette Stingray With Slim at the National Corvette Museum

My father (Slim - nickname I gave him in 1978) and I flew out early on Veterans Day 2015 to pick up my new 2016 long beach metallic red Corvette Stingray at the National Corvette Musuem (NCM). It was the perfect day and half.  We did this back in February 2011 when we picked up my 2011 Corvette Grand Sport and took the museum delivery when I called the blog post - Three Perfect Days With Slim.

Thanks to Bill, President of the Old Dominion Corvette Club, for sending me this photo the day I was taking delivery.

Above is me and Slim in front of my Stingray holding my NCM sign.

What was absolutely amazing was running into long time friend and former Sun Microsystems employee - Steve B.  Steve was there with his brother-in-law and just happened to be at the NCM when my father and I were there.  Steve and I were at Corvettes At Carlisle together this past August where both of us were looking at purchasing a new Stingray.

Above is the front side view and below is the rear view of the Stingray where you can see that the NCM can easily deliver nine new Corvettes on a given day.

We got a great tour of the Corvette Assembly Plant by Larry of the NCM staff.  What was SUPER COOL was the 20 assembly plant employees who stopped what they were doing to run over and thank my father, Lt. Col. John K. Edstrom, for his service to his country. He was very thankful and it showed the absolute class of these employees. My father did two tours of duty in Vietnam and is the USAF record holder for CLL (39 years).

One of the very cool things they did for my father is they pulled him off the tour (we had a private tour) and he "birthed" or started for the first time a $105,000 Corvette Z06.  As Slim pointed out, "how many veterans get to birth a Z06 ON Veterans Day?"

One of the things we wanted to find was our 2011 brick when I purchased my Grand Sport.

Above is Larry showing me the many different features of the 2016 Stingray. Bill also sent me this photo.

Above is the new brick at the NCM for my 2016 Stingray trip with my father.

What Slim and I wanted to see before we left was the Sinkhole Exhibit.  Above are three photos of the Corvettes that could not be restored and below is the glass covering of the 56' hole where the sinkhole bottomed out.

Below is my father driving out of the NCM in my new Corvette Stingray.

We met Wendell Strode, also a former Vietnam Veteran and the person who runs the NCM, when my father rode out of the NCM in the Stingray.

Below is my father and I leaving the NCM.  We drove 400 miles that night and stopped at about 1am and were on the road again by 6:20am the next day. I followed the NCM's advice by keeping the tach between 2 and 3 grand and changing the speed as well as keeping the Stingray out of economy mode as well as keeping rev matching off.

Above the Stingray is safely home next to my 2011 Grand Sport :-)

 Above is me on November 11th, 2016 pointing out my and my father's Grand Sport brick when I was with John Meyer for his delivery of his 2017 Grand Sport.

Above is me on November 11th, 2016 pointing out my and my father's Stingray brick when I was with John Meyer for his delivery of his 2017 Grand Sport.

Congrats to Bryce Harper - National League MVP

I was not a huge fan of Bryce Harper until last year's playoffs when Bryce hit one into McCovey Cove and then one into the upper deck at Nats stadium.  All the other Nationals faded last year and Bryce stepped up and continued to be the only Nat stepping up this entire season.  At 22, he is in very rare air...

As USA Today stated this past Thursday"

"Why Harper won: “Baseball’s chosen one,’’ as Sports Illustrated dubbed Harper when he was 16, has lived up to the billing six years later. Finally healthy and armed with a smarter approach at the plate, Harper was the league’s most potent offensive force. He finished second in batting average (.330) and walks (124), tied for the lead in home runs (42) and had the majors’ highest on-base-plus slugging percentage (1.109), all the while driving in 99 runs.

Harper, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2010 draft and a three-time All-Star before turning 23 in October, showed remarkable maturation as a player in setting career highs in virtually every offensive category. The walks were twice as many as he’d ever drawn, and the home runs represented an improvement of 20 over his previous high mark of 22, set in his rookie of the year season in 2012."

The Fabricator's "Why Machine Monitoring Matters" by Tim Heston

I had the privilege of speaking with Tim Heston of The Fabricator in his excellent article titled: "Why Machine Monitoring Matters".

Mr. Heston describes the importance of machine monitoring, discusses the beginnings of MTConnect and brings out numerous examples to help the reader appreciate why the time is now with machine monitoring with MTConnect in the world of fabrication makes absolute sense.

Mr. Heston writes:


"When Dave Edstrom speaks at manufacturing events, he likes to challenge his audience. He asks if anyone’s company is practicing lean manufacturing or other improvement techniques. A lot of hands go up. Next he asks how many are monitoring the uptime and performance of their equipment with overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) metrics.

“I then ask, ‘If you are doing either lean or OEE, please raise your right hand and keep it up.’ Then I say the following, ‘Please also raise your left hand if you are monitoring your shop floor. By shop floor monitoring, I do not mean simply counting good and bad parts, nor do I mean simply knowing what color is on the stack light. By shop floor monitoring, I mean the ability to know anywhere and anytime exactly what a given piece of equipment is doing in your plant or shop.’”

Not many raise their hand. He then makes a bold statement. “Unless you have both hands in the air, you might think you are doing lean or OEE, but you are not.”

Edstrom told this story in his book MTConnect: To Measure Is to Know. His point is simple, and it’s nothing new to manufacturing: If you don’t measure something, how can you improve it?"

Mr. Heston brings up numerous examples with monitoring and metal fabrication that are well worth reading and understanding. It is an extremely well written article that I would strongly encourage anyone in fabrication to read!

In the article, Mr. Heston discusses parts of my book, MTConnect: To Measure Is to Know.

"Standardization and Market Dynamics

In his book, MTConnect: To Measure Is to Know, Dave Edstrom recounts the story of William Sellers, a tool builder who back in the 1860s came up with a uniform system of screw threads. Sellers’ screw threads could be easily measured (the 60-degree threads are one-third of an equilateral triangle). The struggle wasn’t over the technical merits of the screw’s design, but whether there should be a standard at all.

Ultimately, a few large machine shops recognized the merits of Sellers’ design, and its popularity ultimately pushed industry to adopt one uniform standard.

As Edstrom wrote, “While the idea of standards was very controversial, it proved to be brilliant, because something as simple as a standard screw created many, many industries.”

As Edstrom said in an interview, “Customers [of machine tool vendors] ultimately will drive this. “They’ll say, ‘I need to know what’s happening on the shop floor, and I don’t want to spend a lot of money per device to get information off the machines in a standard format.’”

Edstrom added that an open standard like MTConnect introduces a kind of Bluetooth functionality to the machine tool world. If you don’t like your Bluetooth-enabled phone headset, you can just buy another one. Similarly, if a shop isn’t happy with its machine monitoring system, it’s free to switch to another MTConnect-enabled monitoring software."

"Something Ventured" Ventury Capitalism Documentary on Netflix

I read on an article on must watch documentaries for the computer industry and "Something Ventured" came in at the top.  As a computer history nut, I have always been that way, but npg really gave me the true appreciation of the importance of the individuals and context of the times (starting back in May 1987), I really enjoyed this documentary on how venture capitalism came about.

This goes into the entire Shockley, Fairchild, Arthur Rock, Gordon Moore, Intel, Tandem, Atari, Nolan Bushnell, Kleiner and Perkins, Georges Doriot (Harvard Professor had a class called manufacturing that was really about how to start a company), Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), Genentech, Home Brew Computer Club, Mike Markkula, Don Valentine, Apple, Radio Shack TRS-80, New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Dick Kramlich, Forethought (creator of PowerPoint), FileMaker, U.S. Venture Partners, Macintosh, Cisco, Sandy Lerner and Len Bosack, John Morgridge, and all the great entrepreneurs and venture capitalists that have changed our world.

Martin Fowler's Great Blog Post On Remote Versus Co-Located Work

I really enjoyed this blog post by Martin Fowler titled:  Remote Versus Co-Located Work.

Martin is a great speaker, writer and thought leader in the field of software.

He brings out many great points such as these three snippets below: 

"Another factor is that there are so many other factors that make a team work well. If someone is saying they are more effective on a single-site team, that may be because other factors are in play compared to different teams. One way to reduce this problem is to pay special attention to teams that have changed their distribution pattern, such as splitting from single-site to multi-site. Other factors still intrude, particularly since changes in team distribution often mean people will leave or join a team, but I think this yields stronger evidence than comparing totally different teams.

Given this, all I (or anyone) can do is listen to lots of people and make the best judgement I can. I've heard a lot of experiences about teams and locations, including quite a few where teams have changed their distribution pattern (although I haven't heard very much to or from remote-first). The weight of anecdotes leads me to conclude that most teams are more productive when in a single-site model.

The reason for this is the ease of communication. While tools like (video) chat, screen sharing, and the like have done much to make remote work easier, there is still nothing as effective as being able to turn around, see the person you want to talk to, and just be able to speak. Co-location also introduces a huge amount of out-of-band conversations which improves personal relationships. The result is a virtuous cycle of improved relationships and communication. Since communication is such a central part of software development, this is a big impact on productivity."

When people ask me, "why did Sun go belly up?" One of my answers is, "hoteling or work from home killed Sun Microsystems." I would say this because hoteling absolutely killed any sense of teamwork or comradery.  This was especially tough when a company is going through layoffs as Sun was at the time.

My feeling on this has been that teams need to be be physically together, but individuals can work from home for stretches at a time when it is more heads-down isolated work.

Benghazi Hearings Today

Here is the bottom line on Benghazi.  There is no there there.

Hillary just became the President of the United States in the November 2016 election.  All the Republicans looked like they brought a knife to a gun fight when questioning Hillary Clinton.  I am certainly not a Hillary fan, but the Republicans looked like fools today.  Warren Buffett called it on May 4th of this year...

The Three "A"s of MTConnect - the Adapter, Agent and Application

As the former President and Chairman of the Board of the MTConnect Institute, I have given this 10 minute presentation countless number of times to explain the Three "A"s of MTConnect - the Adapter, Agent and Application.

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As a reminder, MTConnect is the open, royalty-free manufacturing communications protocol which fosters greater interoperability between manufacturing devices and software. The MTConnect standard provides connectivity and the capability to monitor and then harvest data from the entire production floor: machines, cells, devices, and processes. The standard makes this possible, because it’s based on XML and HTTP Internet technology for real-time data sharing. 

The adapter is the piece of software and/or hardware that sits between the device itself, such as a machine tool, sensor, compressor, any MTConnect enabled device, and the agent.  The adapter needs to speak the specific language that the device understands and then convert that to SHDR (Simple Hierarchical Data Representation - a simple time stamped human readable stream separated by "|" symbols as delimiters.  The information is sent continuously from the device to the adapter and then to the agent. Please note that the SHDR protocol is not officially part of the MTConnect spec, but in reality, almost all of the adapters use SHDR to speak to the reference agent. The reference agent is the agent that is out at http://github.com/MTConnect that almost all of the implementations out there today use as their agent.

The agent can be thought of as a simple web server that on one side talks to the adapter and the other side talks to applications.  The agent is what translates the SHDR and makes it available in MTConnect (XML) format via http (how you access any webpage on the web today such as ESPN.com). The agent responds to simple commands from the apps or applications such as probe, current, sample or asset as examples.  The agent has a circular buffer for storing the data that is coming from the adapter.  Typically this is about 10 minutes of data.

The app or applications can be anything that wants to get information from the agent on what the MTConnect enabled device is doing.  Typically, the app is a shop floor monitoring app such as MERLIN.  Apps query the agent and typically store that information into a database as well as make that info available in dashboards, reports, email alerts and countless other ways.

I think these 10 minutes should give you a very nice overview of how MTConnect works and a deeper dive on what happens under the covers for MTConnect with the Adapter, Agent and Application.

As I stated in the webcast, you can learn more at MemexInc.net/MTConnect

Exciting Announcement - Mazak Launches Platform To Bring Manufacturers Into the IIOT

 

These are very exciting times for the world of MTConnect!

Mazak developed SmartBox to work with any machine regardless of make, model or age.

Mazak Corporation is collaborating with Cisco and MEMEX to launch a platform “for easy and highly secure entrance into the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT),” called SmartBox.

This technology represents a huge leap in digital integration across manufacturing. Access to real-time manufacturing data is used to improve overall productivity and responsiveness to customer/market changes. Using MTConnect technology as the foundation, SmartBox connectivity of machines and devices allows for enhanced monitoring and analytical capabilities including advanced cyber security protection.

Mazak is showcasing the SmartBox technology during its DISCOVER 2015 Technology and Education Event, held October 27-29 and November 3-5 at its North American Manufacturing Headquarters.

The power of SmartBox will be demonstrated in one of the automated cells as part of the company’s own manufacturing operations. Each of the cell’s four machines are outfitted with a SmartBox and sensor array package, giving event attendees a firsthand look at the device in action within an actual manufacturing environment and network.

The SmartBox is another component within Mazak’s dynamic iSMART Factory concept and one that takes advantage of Cisco’s Connected Machines solution to provide insights into machine operations. Advanced manufacturing cells and systems, along with full digital integration, can achieve free-flow data sharing, i.e., process control and operation/equipment monitoring.

The iSMART concept also incorporates Mazak’s SMOOTH Technology working in tandem with the MTConnect standard connectivity protocol.

Mazak also developed SmartBox to work with any machine regardless of make, model or age and will offer it in various configurations/kits based on the scenarios and challenges in which the units will be used. The device physically mounts to the side of machines without having to integrate into a machine’s electrical cabinet. With several standard input/output connecting ports, SmartBox lets users quickly and easily connect any standard off-the-shelf sensors to the system for machine data gathering and condition monitoring. One SmartBox may service several machine tools along with other associated manufacturing equipment, depending on the application.

At the heart of the SmartBox is Cisco’s Connected Machines solution, based on the IoT System, designed specifically for industrial environments and equipped with an MTConnect software agent. Using a fog computing model, the MT Connect software runs directly on the ruggedized Cisco Industrial Ethernet (IE) 4000 switch—providing real time visibility and insights into data right on the factory floor.

The Memex software installed in Mazak’s own factory allows for monitoring analytics of machines, test stands and other equipment within the plant. The Cisco hardware is designed to help prevent any issues with unauthorized access from both directions – to or from the machines and equipment within a network. SmartBox satisfies the highly critical security concerns of IT departments when connecting legacy equipment to a plant’s main network for the purpose of gathering manufacturing data via the MTConnect protocol.

“With the development of SmartBox, Mazak continues to drive toward its iSMART Factory concept and connecting today’s shops to the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) to achieve levels of efficiency and productivity never before realized,” said Brian Papke, President of Mazak Corporation. “And while our concept centers around open connectivity and the Internet, we at Mazak believe it is our moral obligation to also provide customers the highest level of security possible with SmartBox. As with all the technology we develop, Mazak has first implemented SmartBox into our own operations before expecting customers to wholeheartedly embrace the system.”

The underlying Cisco networking platform helps ensure that IT technicians will be familiar with SmartBox’s operation and can use it to quickly and easily control and manage network security. Also, the hardware allows manufacturers to enable secure machine communications through secure access and identity policy mechanisms. Third parties, such as equipment suppliers, can then log on to a company’s network and access only those machines equipped with a Mazak SmartBox.

“This is great example of how Cisco works with our ecosystem of partners to help customers capture the value of digitization,” said Tony Shakib, Vice President, Vertical Solutions, at Cisco.

“Cisco’s scalable and secure IoT platform makes it possible for partners like Mazak and MEMEX to quickly launch new IoT offerings that provide high-value customer experiences and business outcomes. We’re helping our OEM partners transform their business from selling products to selling industrial services.”

For more information, visit www.mazakusa.com.

To see the article, please click here.

Another Horseman of the Internet Bites The Dust

There is a nice article by Matt Kranz in USA Today titled, "Another 'Horseman of the Internet' loses its head"

 "EMC was one of those stocks you just had to own in the late 1990s and early 2000 - as it was one of the companies nicknamed the "Four Horsemen of the Internet." These companies prospered as their customers bought gear looking to build Internet systems and Web sites. EMC, along with network gear maker Cisco Systems (CSCO), storage maker Oracle (ORCL) and computer systems maker Sun Microsystems were seen as dominating the construction and development of the Internet."

It is funny, because younger folks in tech today don't really believe that Sun Microsystems and EMC were big players.

It is interesting how things might change in the future as Mr. Kranz postulates:

 "Investors can only wonder if the current "FANG" favorites, Facebook (FB), Apple (AAPL), Netflix (NFLX) and Google (GOOGL), will meet a similar fate."

Sun Microsystems Fall Outing at Bluemont Winery and Dinner at Magnolias at the Mill

Below are some ole SUNWers from the left to the right, me, Julie, Barb (Dennis' wife), Joy, Dave and Dennis. We were at Bluemont Winery which has one of the best views of any winery in the country with the Shenandoah Valley and Blue Ridge Mountains in the background. Bluemont Winery is at 951' elevation and on a clear day you can see (with a set of binoculars) the Washington Monument 55 miles away as the crow flies. It was the perfect fall day to spend the afternoon enjoying some wine and food with long time friends.  We met Sue and had dinner in Purcelleville at Magnolias at the Mill.

Memex HW/SW Development Team

Above is the Memex SW/HW Development Team after we had lunch at Montana's in Burlington, Ontario. I am very fortunate to have such a talented and dedicated group of developers!

From left to right is Doug, Anusha, Terry, me, Brian, Tim (in the horns - its a tradition we started :-), Ryan, Gowtham (kneeling), Jeremy and Litian.  Not pictured is Ken who was not able to make it.

Mazak's DISCOVER 2015

Measuring Manufacturing Excellence DISCOVER 2015  A Technology + Education Event From Mazak with Memex as a VIP Partner Smart, connected manufacturing solutions are the wave of the future and will unleash a new era of competition.  That's why you need to start preparing your business today - and DISCOVER 2015 is the perfect place to begin.   Where: Mazak Corporation Headquarters 8025 Production Drive Florence, Kentucky 41042   When: October 27 - 29 November 3 - 5   Click here to register now!     Memex Inc. is a Mazak VIP Partner.     Mazak VIP Partners are selected because they share Mazak's forward-thinking approach to manufacturing.   Memex will be at DISCOVER 2015 as part of the Mazak iSmart Factory!   Memex's flagship product, MERLIN, runs on any machine, and can deliver 10% - 50% efficiency gains.  To learn more about how MERLIN is a part of the iSmart Factory, please contact Memex today, at 1-866-573-3895 or email sales@memex-inc.com.  Get started on a single machine cell now!     10 Reasons why attending DISCOVER 2015 is a smart move.   1.  Experience the latest metalworking technology. More than 30 of our latest machine tools will be on display cutting real-world parts via modern Multi-Tasking, HYBRID Multi-Tasking, 5-axis, milling and turning techniques.   2. Participate in productive discussions. Application experts will be available during the cutting demonstrations to discuss specific ways in which our machines can optimize your part production.   3. Check out alternative machining techniques. Our new INTEGREX i-400AM combines advanced Multi-Tasking with additive manufacturing to create one highly efficient, precision machining platform.   4. Find new ways to control the competition. As the fastest in the industry, our new MAZATROL SmoothX CNC brings extreme productivity advantages to the most demanding manufacturing environments.   5. See the debut of unprecedented Kentucky innovation. Several Kentucky-made models will make their first appearance at the event, with several featuring iterations of our revolutionary CNC design for SMOOTH TECHNOLOGY.   6. Learn best practices in workplace flexibility. Our modular, highly versatile PALLETECH System with new Smooth PMC software can grow your business and keep your processes moving 24/7 without adding shifts.   7. Network with the best and brightest in the industry. As the year's largest private manufacturing event in North America, you will have access to industry experts, technology leaders and key influencers in one central location.   8. Experience the dawn of the digital factory. Be among the first to see our new iSMART Factory in action, and learn how it harnesses the power of connectivity to optimize our operations on every level.   9. Prepare for the next wave of innovation. The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is starting to transform our industry, so now is the time to get ready for the complete paradigm shift in manufacturing.   10. Start tapping into the intelligence era. Communication protocols such as MTConnect® provide access to real-time intelligence that you can use to optimize your operations and shorten lead times. See the cover story "7 Things to Know About IIOT" on the September edition of Modern Machine Shop that features Memex and MERLIN.   7 Things to Know About IIOT     WIMTS October 6 - 8, 2015 West Allis, WI   Where: Wisconsin State Fair ParkExposition Center Halls B & C    Come visit MEMEX Inc. at booth #135    To learn more about WIMTS, please click here.     DISCOVER 2015   October 27 - 29, 2015 November 3 - 5, 2015 Florence, KY   Where: Mazak Headquarters   To learn more about DISCOVER 2015, please click here. Memex Products MERLIN OEE  Connectivity Solutions   Direct Numerical Control (DNC)    Hardware Accessories   MTConnect Adapters ROI Calculator MEMEX Inc.    3425 Harvester Road, Suite 105 Burlington, ON, Canada L7N 3N1 www.memex-inc.com Email: sales@memex-inc.com Phone: 905-635-1540     Toll Free: 1-866-573-3895

Seagull Century Canceled For First Time in 27 Years

The folks at Salisbury University do a great job running the Seagull Century and they canceled today's ride for the first time in 27 years.  It was the right call, but I am bummed that I am not riding with Jeff, Gork and Steve.  It is always a great time with them and this year we were spending the weekend at Ocean City, MD -- which would have been great.

Hopefully next year will work out!

Yet Another Shooting In A School - President Obama Is Right

The NRA has blood on its hands. Congress has blood on its hands. Anyone who states the BS line of "more guns make us safer" ALL have blood on their hands.

I am F*CK!NG sick of this BS that the chicken sh*t politicians and the NRA feed the idiot Americans who believe this crap!  As a father of a son who stood outside Norris Hall at VT on April 16th, 2007 when the gun shots first started in the worst massacre at a college campus in American history I am disgusted with our politicians and those who suck at the tit of the NRA. I was one of the lucky ones as my son was not killed that day.  But my son was very involved in this tragedy after the fact because he worked for (as a volunteer) Virginia Tech's Collegiate Times.  My sister (a BS, two Masters and a Ph.D.) was one of the first counselors to show up at VT to help those in need. So, this is very, very near and dear to my heart.  One of the many tragic stories I heard first hand was from John's roommate who was one of those who was there when the bodies of the students were being taken out and you could hear the cell phones ringing in those students pants or purses as their moms and dads were calling and praying they were ok.....

The logic of "more guns make us safer" is complete and utter CRAP!  It is the Archie Bunker logic.  Archie famously stated in the hit TV show All In The Family, to combat the hijackers on planes, they should pass out guns to every one who gets on a plane so when the bad guy pulls out his gun, the good guys will have theirs and can shoot him.  That is the same bassawkwards logic that we hear today.

IF guns make us safer, then why did we go through TWO metal detectors before I was able to visit the Senate?  IF guns make us safer than why do we have metal detectors before we get on planes? The logic is BS!!

Here is an experiment we can run in the House.  Since MOST of the politicians today believe MORE guns make us safer and we can RELY on having that person with the gun to take out the bad guy with the gun, let's do this:

In the Senate keep everything the same - no changes to safety protocols.  In the House, let's get rid of all the metal detectors, let's get rid of the protective services that each of the congress men and women have so anyone with a gun can walk right into the floor of the House and sit there with their gun no problem.  These Congress men and women should feel just as safe as the Senators according to their logic - right? This is the same logic that that all of these politicians are pushing when they relax all of the gun laws.

It reminds me when I saw Oliver Stone speak live at Foot Hill Community College in CA.  Mr. Stone was asked, "why did the Vietnam war go on for so long?"  He looked at the woman with disgust and said, "Do you REALLY NOT KNOW?"  The woman said sheepishly, "no".  Mr. Stone said, "Because politicians kids were not going to war and were not dying.  If they were, it would have been a short war."  The same logic applies here.
I have lots of friends who are police officers or Secret Service agents or detectives.  They all say the same thing, which is just because you can shoot a gun does NOT mean you are properly trained to use it in a real life situation.

It's interesting that most of my relatives all like to hunt. Which I think is perfectly fine.  BUT, NONE of them going hunting with an AK-47, M16 or any type of machine gun!

You have to have a license to get married, to go hunting, to fishing, to drive a car, to drive a commercial vehicle or hell EVEN to cut someone's hair in a barber shop, BUT you don't need a universal background check to buy a gun??????

Politicians LOVE to say, "well the American people have said...." Well guess what IDIOT politicians, look what Americans say about universal background checks for guns???

"Ninety-two percent of voters, including 92 percent of gun owners and 86 percent of Republicans, support background checks prior to all gun sales, according to a new poll from Quinnipiac University."


Don't tell me this crap response, "well, if we look at where the gun laws are the strictest that is where we have the most murders." Yeah, it really matters when DC has a tight gun law but freaking Virginia is the wild, wild west doesn't it?



Also, don't give me the BS response of, "well, what can you do, these things will just happen."  That is Homer Simpson logic when Bart tried something and failed Homer said, "Bart, you learned a very valuable lesson today, never, EVER try."


Frank Bruni writes a great article title Guns, Campuses and Madness in the NT Times when he states:

"This is madness. When it comes to guns, we have lost our bearings in this country, allowing misguided chest-thumping about a constitutional amendment penned in an entirely different epoch, under entirely different circumstances, to trump all prudence and decency.

President Obama had it right when he said on Thursday that Americans had “become numb to this,” as evidenced by our political paralysis — or, in the case of Texas, our sprint in the wrong direction. He noted that there was now “a gun for roughly every man, woman and child in America.”

“So how can you, with a straight face, make the argument that more guns will make us safer?” he added."

Nicholas Kristof writes in the New York Times "A New Way To Tackle Gun Deaths":

"First, we need to comprehend the scale of the problem: It’s not just occasional mass shootings like the one at an Oregon college on Thursday, but a continuous deluge of gun deaths, an average of 92 every day in America. Since 1970, more Americans have died from guns than died in all U.S. wars going back to the American Revolution.

When I reported a similar figure in the past, gun lobbyists insisted that it couldn’t possibly be true. But the numbers are unarguable: fewer than 1.4 million war deaths since 1775, more than half in the Civil War, versus about 1.45 million gun deaths since 1970 (including suicides, murders and accidents).

If that doesn’t make you flinch, consider this: In America, more preschoolers are shot dead each year (82 in 2013) than police officers are in the line of duty (27 in 2013), according to figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the FBI."

Republicans like to say as stated so well by E.J. Dionne, Jr on October 4th titled "The Conservative Evasion On Guns"

"Politicians who go on about American greatness should be ashamed of saying that the United States is the one and only nation that can’t act effectively to solve a problem every other free and democratic country has contained."

Dionne nailed it! Don't tell me how great America is and "exceptional" when the Republicans are so afraid of the NRA that those politicians refuse to address this incredible problem!

I would be willing to be BIG MONEY that if a Senator or Congressman's child was killed on a college campus or at a school that they would have a "change of heart" and realize how f*cking crazy American's politicians have become in their absolute fear of the NRA!!!!

God Bless President Obama who has it EXACTLY right -- we have spent over $1 TRILLION on fighting terrorism, but that is a rounding error compared to gun deaths --  this CANNOT become routine and I am glad that he will not let it - if only the politicians had some courage.

Congratulations to Susan Landau - Cybersecurity Hall of Fame

One of the true privileges of working at Sun Microsystems was working with truly brilliant people who were changing the world. One of those was Susan Landau.

I just read in CIO that Susan was named to be inducted into the Cybersecurity Hall of Fame. As the article states: 

 "The National Cyber Security Hall of Fame has announced its recent class of inductees. In noting them we also highlight some of the past winners. The hall of fame recognizes the history and contributions of pioneers, innovators and educators who influenced the industry. The inductees are chosen by a board of advisers"

The article goes on to say:

"Susan Landau is a Professor of Cybersecurity Policy in the Department of Social Science and Policy Studies at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Landau has been a senior staff Privacy Analyst at Google, a Distinguished Engineer at Sun Microsystems."

Congrats Susan!! It is WELL deserved!

How VW Cheated on the EPA Test

There is a nice and succinct article by by Andrea Peterson and Brian Fung titled:

The tech behind how Volkswagen tricked emissions tests

 Here is how they did it from the article:

"In the end, the detailed requirements for each test gave Volkswagen the advance knowledge it needed to teach its cars when to behave more cleanly. By measuring how long the engine was running, the vehicle’s speeds, and even seemingly esoteric factors, such as the position of the steering wheel and barometric pressure, Volkswagen vehicles could understand they were being tested and so adjusted their engine performance to pass the tests, according to the EPA."

The article is well worth reaching.

Germany versus the United States for Industry 4.0

There is a very interesting article written by Alex Webb for Bloomberg Businessweek titled,

Can Germany Beat the U.S. to the Industrial Internet?

Below is from Alex Webb's article that all of us in manufacturing and in the world of MTConnect can appreciate quite well:

"Unlike in computing, with its standardized suite of keyboards and USB connectors, there are no dominant standards in industrial equipment."

When I read the paragraph below in the article, I think of what we are doing at Memex with MERLIN.

"Both groups aim to make it easier for machines in factories throughout companies’ supply chains to communicate with one another. The goal: to reduce downtime by anticipating when a factory will have spare capacity or need replacement parts, for example. Built-in sensors will collect all manner of data to better allocate resources, helping manufacturers cut energy use by as much as 20 percent and labor costs by 25 percent, according to consultant McKinsey."

 

One thing I know for sure and that is Germany and the rest of the countries need to embrace MTConnect if they truly want to provide an open and royalty-free standard protocol that is the ultimate game-changer in manufacturing.

 

 

Modern Machine Shop's The Seven Things You Need To Know About The Internet of Things (IoT) and Industry 4.0

I have had the privilege of working with Mark Albert, Editor in Chief for Modern Machine Shop, on a number of occasions and it is always an honor and a real pleasure. Mark is a great writer and Modern Machine Shop is THE magazine for manufacturing.

Mark wrote a great article titled, The Seven Things You Need To Know About The Internet of Things (IoT) and Industry 4.0, and I had the chance to provide some comments in his article.

It is an excellent article and Mark asked my thoughts on how to get started and below is a snippet of my comments:


"Getting Started on the IoT Pathway

So how does a machine shop begin to bring on the power of the Industrial IoT? A practical option for many companies will be to install a comprehensive machine monitoring system. Dave Edstrom, the chief technology officer at Memex, recommends this approach because machine monitoring introduces key elements necessary for wider Industrial IoT connections. For example, even basic machine monitoring can require equipping machines with the necessary interfaces for data collection and reporting; establishing the framework for a shop-wide network; getting the shop workforce accustomed to a data-driven manufacturing environment; training managers to recognize and deal with data management issues (who gets what report and what do they do with the info); and so on.

“Most shops that implement a monitoring system such as MERLIN start with a small number of machines to ease the learning curve and get everyone on board,” Mr. Edstrom says. MERLIN (Manufacturing Execution Real-time Lean Information Network) is Memex’s manufacturing execution system and machine-to-machine communications platform that is MTConnect compliant. “Supervisors and operators must be involved in evaluating the machine monitoring software, encouraged to provide input and given a clear understanding of the direction the company is taking with this implementation,” he adds. He also notes that, from the start, machine data must translate into actionable information that helps both the operators and managers. Operators must feel that this is a tool for them and not Big Brother looking over their shoulders.

Installing large display screens to show reports such as machine utilization is typically part of a shop’s pilot project. Visual awareness creates quick (and significant) results, because shopfloor personnel instinctively focus their thinking and practices on improvements that boost utilization, Mr. Edstrom reports.

Once a shopfloor monitoring system is in place, the shop can deploy additional sensors to augment their dashboards and reports to improve performance and lower costs. “Monitoring software that can speak to a wide range of devices and provide real-time dashboards with notification triggers and reporting to drive down costs and drive up productivity in a secure and predictable way will be the heart of the Industrial IoT,” Mr. Edstrom concludes."

George Will, the Republican Debate, Pope Francis, Ronald Reagan, Jon Huntsman and Upton Sinclair

I disagree with George Will on every topic except when he writes about baseball.  When it comes to baseball, George Will is clearly an expert.

When it comes to science, Mr. Will should listen to the Pope. Mr. Will writes an article in today's Washington Post titled, "Pope Francis’ fact-free flamboyance"

The only thing that is fact-free in the article is Mr. Will's lack of logic and his inability to address science in any cohesive fashion.

It is a absolutely mind-blowing that NONE of the current Republican candidates believe in climate change!  Even the legendary neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson does not believe in climate change.  I can certainly understand why Donald Trump and the others do not believe in climate change.  It makes sense when you think about that in the context of what Upton Sinclair stated:

“It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.” 

The last presidential Republican candidate that believed in BOTH climate change AND evolution was not even a rounding error in the Republican primaries.  When former Utah Governor tweeted, "To be clear. I believe in evolution and trust scientists on global warming. Call me crazy", it was a guarantee that he would never get the nomination.

Even the Holy Patron Saint of the Republican Party Ronald Reagan once stated, “worried about what man has done and is doing to this magical planet that God gave us."

 When we will hear a Republican presidential candidate state they believe in science such as Jon Huntsman or even at the very least, agree with Ronald Reagan?  

Great "Kim Davis Marriage" Billboard

I just read that a group created a billboard where Kim Davis (the woman who believes her particular religious beliefs outweighs the Supreme Court) is greeted to the following:

 “Dear Kim Davis, the fact that you can’t sell your daughter for three goats and a cow means we’ve already redefined marriage”


This is an obvious reference to verses in the Bible that permit the selling of women.

I wonder if Mike Huckabee would have coming running to Kim Davis' side (in the bright camera lights) if she happened to be a non-Christian and her religious beliefs did not allow for same sex marriage?

When I hear these idiots state that the United States was based on a particular religion, I suggest they go read some of the Amendments - with the first one not being a bad place to start...

Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Nice Cutting Tool Engineering Article by MEMEX CEO David McPhail

Here is a link to an article titled: 

DATA-DRIVEN MANUFACTURING

 David writes regarding the importance of having data:
 

"Top-flight manufacturers understand that a convergence of connectivity, analytics and ubiquitous Internet devices creates opportunity for an industrial-strength, shop- floor-to-top-floor communications platform that provides real-time efficiency metrics. Specifically, a software-based machine monitoring platform should: 

■ deliver a 10 to 50 percent average productivity increase;
■ create at least 20 percent profit improvement, based on an achievable 10 percent increase in overall equipment effectiveness (OEE);
■ achieve payback in less than 4 months with an internal rate of return greater than 300 percent; and
■ connect to any machine, old or new, using either native MTConnect or retrofitted hardware adapters. 

Machine monitoring allows plant managers to cost-effectively iso- late productivity issues so everyone from the CEO to each individual machine operator can understand what must be done to maximize efficiency"

David writes regarding Mazak's use of our product:

"Mazak’s IT department started the efficiency drive by implementing the MTConnect protocol to accurately determine machine availability by using OEE as a standard measurement.

Brian Papke, Mazak’s CEO, personally drove the project to show the machine tool industry the importance of moving toward data- driven manufacturing.

Mazak chose the platform for its ability to collect data using MT- Connect adapters for newer machines and through its Universal Machine Interface circuit board for legacy machines. This advanced adapter board directly captures sig- nals from a legacy machine and translates it into MTConnect-standard code. This combination means every machine on the shop floor is MTConnect-compatible for a com- mon technology analysis platform."

A Sad Few Weeks - Darryl Dawkins and Moses Malone Both Die

The Philadelphia 76ers were my favorite NBA team of all time.  Both Darryl Dawkins and Moses Malone were centers for the 76ers.  Darryl died on August 27th and Moses Malone died today. Both were absolute legends.

Darryl Dawkins gave names to his dunks.  My favorite was:  Chocolate-Thunder-Flying, Glass-Flying, Robinzine-Crying, Babies-Crying, Glass-Still-Flying, Cats-Crying, Rump-Roasting, Bun-Toasting, Thank You-Wham-Bam-I-Am-Jam

Moses Malone was the "Chairman of The Boards" for his incredible offensive and defensive rebounding abilities.  As stated in wikipedia "Malone's acquisition paid dividends, as the 76ers won 65 games in the 1982–83 NBA season. Prior to the playoffs, Malone predicted a clean playoff sweep for the 76ers, ending it with the statement Fo, Fo, Fo. The 76ers would steamroll through the playoffs, sweeping the New York Knicks 4–0 in the conference semifinals, before overcoming the Milwaukee Bucks in five games of the conference finals, thereby denying Malone's infamous prediction. Nevertheless, the 76ers were heading into the Finals as confident as ever."

As stated on ESPN, "Malone was the first player to go pro right out of high school, signing with the Utah Stars of the American Basketball Association in 1974. He played the following season for the Spirits of St. Louis before moving to the Buffalo Braves after the ABA-NBA merger in 1976."

God bless Darryl and Moses - they brought tremendous joy to NBA fans all over the world.