Boston Dynamics has invented the most amazing autonomous Robot that they call BigDog which walks, runs, and climbs on rough terrain and carries heavy loads. This robot reminds me of a cross between RoboCop and a Star Wars’ Imperial Walker. The BigDog robot runs at 4 mph, climbs slopes up to 35 degrees, walks across rubble, and carries a 340 lb load!  They say, and you can hear, that it is powered by a two stroke gas engine and has articulated legs like an animal.  Those legas are controlled by an on-board computer that manages locomotion, servos and sensors.    The BigDog program is funded by DARPA.

Photo Credit: www.2dayblog.com

go on reading »

I love it, a big company learning to act like a startup. After selling his Equity Office Trust for $39 Billion, billionaire Sam Zell bought the Tribune Company for $8.2 Billion last year, with $8.0 Billion of other people’s money, and is now focused on one of the largest experiments in organization behavior ever. He is trying to change the way that the employees think about their business by instilling a bottom line thinking, a sense of urgency and focus on the customer. In the end he is also using the financial engineering he performed to drive his discipline home.

“If the Tribune deal doesn’t work, it ain’t going to change my lifestyle,” he told Tribune staffers in Chicago. “It really isn’t. But if the Tribune deal doesn’t work, or if it does work, it’s really going to change your lifestyle.”

There is a great video embedded in this article. He also does not seem to have much patience for senior managers who are seemingly not on the same page and for journalists that seem to have missed the whole Zell story.

go on reading »

Sort of off topic - I seemed to have missed most of  it  but now I am sick and tired of it except at least this one doesn’t have that creepy bartender in it.