#U.S. Robotics Foundation

[stevebattle]

Squirt (1979) by Tom Caroll and Marc Arc. "Squirt, by hobbyist Marc Arc and aerospace engineer Tom Caroll, forms a handsome duo with Jim Hill's Charlie. The inventors are members of the U.S. Robotics Foundation, an organization for amateur roboticists." – ROBOTS Machines in Man's Image, by Isaac Asimov and Karen A. Frenkel (1985).

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

tuesday again 8/27/2024

every fucking time i step outside the apartment i get smacked in the face with a wet blanket of heat and humidity. this is my second summer in the swamp WHY am i so startled every single time

listening

both off my spotify recommended list: 2 Mello's dead leaves, a funky little instrumental that sounds like driving somewhere with fitful AC when it is so hot the leaves are dropping off the trees.

TV Girl's Taking What's Not Yours is not a song i wholeheartedly enjoy, but the sample of Nixon saying "I am not a crook!" has been stuck in my head all week. and stickiness in the head is the main criteria for a tuesdaysong. i don't know anything about this band but my brother said "you WOULD be the typical TV Girl listener". so that information is now available to everyone.

indie pop with indie frontman voice (get well soon). actually. no. this singer reminds me of shelby the worm from adventure time. plus distinct funk overtones. 70% of the song by volume is a hip-hop-ified sample of an anti-pirating PSA. i think i would probably like this when i am less depressed.

-

reading

really great breakdown of what the fuck is happening with Telegram and why conservatives are so riled up about it.

The quick version of how Telegram became a part of the culture war goes something like this. In April, Uri Berliner, who was then a senior business editor at NPR, alleged a widespread culture of woke at NPR in Bari Weiss’s The Free Press. This led to weeks of discussion about NPR on Twitter and in the right-wing blogosphere. During this saga, several right-wing bloggers attacked NPR’s current CEO and President Katherine Maher, who was previously the CEO of the Wikimedia Foundation, an organization that has been repeatedly attacked by conservatives, Elon Musk, etc. for allegedly having a liberal bias. Maher is also a member of the Signal Foundation’s board of directors. 

this fascinated me as an engineering/infrastructure disaster in process. thanks longreads

Nearly wherever you look, border politics in the United States is animated by a persistent myth: that with enough money and willpower, you could eventually seal off the countries from one another, like apartments that share a 1,954-mile wall. One way to describe decades of militarization on the border is that it serves to make Mexico invisible to residents of the United States. The same might be said of cross-border industrial development: porous to money and airplane parts, hardened to everything else. Straddling one of the busiest land crossings in the world, the Tijuana River offers a stubborn rebuttal, a reminder that both sides of the border constitute a single place. Once the poop is in the water, no amount of barbed wire can get it out.

-

watching

i have watched about a movie a day this week and nothing has like. hit.

The Sisters Brothers (2018, dir. Audiard) was simply not the vibe i was looking for. somewhere between coen brothers and peckinpah. not that i am expecting all movies to have an easily portable moral message delivered to me fortune-cookie style in a silent-film dialogue screen right before the credits play, but what was this About. what was the Story being conveyed to me. this was like an episode of the twilight zone where rod serling goes "damn well that was fucked up" except i went in expecting like. a drama. it's a beautiful movie with great acting except they forgot to put a feature-length-movie plot in it.

Omega Doom (1996, dir. Pyun) is such a strange thing. a cyber-Yojimbo with Rutger Hauer. takes place almost completely within one blasted, snowy little town plaza. Rutger Hauer got "shot in the program" during the great human/robot war and it turned him good.

i think it was marketed very poorly, bc it is NOT an epic science fiction thriller. it was made for about five dollars and is a very talky, meandering, weird little cyber-western. as is the case for all movies with female robots, a lot of weird anxieties about women. i think it would have been way more interesting with a completely genderflipped cast? like push that concept all the way! watching mr hauer mow down a lot of fembots was not the most pleasant experience for me as an alleged woman.

not as good as A Fistful of Dollars but compels me more.

-

playing

hello this is very important. the fallout classic collection will be free on epic starting thursday. thank you for your time.

new major genshin patch this week so i will not shut up about that for a bit. as of time of drafting this i am down to TWENTY SEVEN map markers and fully half of them are card game opponents i haven't beaten.

i want to be a point and click adventure game girl so bad but i am afraid i do not have the point and click adventure game temperament. i am having fun with The Silent Age, a little postapoc thing with a time travel mechanic, but only through heavy reference to a walkthrough. this was free on epic last march and i kind of get why? it was published in 2012, wasn't part of a series and didn't have ongoing monetization, and reviewed well but doesn't have a ton of replayability. probably a great windfall for the studio of like $10k, im curious how many people actually downloaded it during its free week. the kind of self-contained game i personally am glad exists in the world but don't want to pay money for.

some good graph humor.

some good osha humor.

-

making

i love to acquire a container. this tiny little pearlescent blue avon bath oil holder (i thought was a vase in texas thrift but that explains why it was horrifyingly sticky) now holds my double pointed needles and other knitting bits and bobs so they're not buried at the bottom of the vase with the regular needles

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

by Gregg Roman

 Milstein Writing Fellow Benjamin Weinthal's reporting on Texas A&M University at Qatar's (TAMUQ) dangerous research agreement with Qatar has spurred Mark Welsh, Texas A&M's new president of its main U.S. campus, to dismiss Weinthal's reporting as "insanity," according to KTBX News in Bryan, Texas.

Texas A&M is one of six American universities with all-expenses-paid campuses in Doha, Qatar. Doha is the major funder of the U.S.-designated terrorist organization Hamas, which on October 7 massacred over 1,200 Israelis and others and kidnapped 253 people.

Weinthal quoted a prior report that asserted "Qatar has acquired full ownership of more than 500 research projects at Texas A&M, some of which are in highly sensitive fields such as nuclear science, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, biotech robotics, and weapons development." He added that the Qatar Foundation, controlled by that country's ruling al-Thani family, "owns all intellectual property developed at TAMUQ."

Welsh characterized Weinthal's report in words that better describe his university's Qatar agreement. "That's insanity. It's irresponsible." He went on: "We have a really, really strong track record of protecting national security research information every day and has [sic] been recognized by DOD, by the intelligence community, by a number of people."

"These findings pose a potential national security risk to the United States," Weinthal reported, adding that knowledge is transferred from A&M's main campus to Qatar in fields like "physics, computer science, and bioengineering with sensitive defense applications."

MEF Director Gregg Roman said, "What's to stop Qatar from passing along sensitive research from A&M's Texas and Doha campuses to America's enemies?"

"Tiny Qatar is the largest foreign donor to American universities," added Campus Watch director Winfield Myers. "Dangerous agreements like the one Texas A&M struck with Doha demonstrate that some schools will sell out to foreign powers if the cash flow is massive and dependable. Americans should demand an immediate investigation into this situation."

[nuadox]

Austin’s 3D printed neighborhood could signal a shift in homebuilding (video)

- By Nuadox Crew -

On the outskirts of Austin, Texas, a groundbreaking housing development is taking shape—literally—layer by layer. The project, a collaboration between homebuilding giant Lennar and construction tech firm Icon, marks the largest community of 3D printed homes in the world.

Video: "Inside The World’s Largest 3D Printed Neighborhood" by CNBC, YouTube.

With 100 houses built over two years, the initiative serves as a pilot for faster, more cost-effective construction methods.

The development comes at a critical time for the U.S. housing market, which faces a shortage of approximately four million homes. Rising labor costs and soaring material prices have made homeownership increasingly out of reach for many Americans. Against this backdrop, 3D printing is being tested as a viable way to increase supply and stabilize costs.

For Holly, one of the community’s first residents, the benefits are already evident. She and her family were drawn to the home’s sleek design and promise of energy efficiency. A year later, she reports consistently low electric bills—just $26 in January—and appreciates the home’s resistance to wind, fire, and mold. At just under $400,000, the price point is competitive with larger, traditionally built homes in the area.

At the heart of the construction process is Icon’s robotic technology, which can produce a house in roughly two weeks. The system relies on digital blueprints uploaded to a proprietary platform called Build OS, which automates structural reinforcement, wiring, and plumbing. With only three workers needed to operate the machinery, the process is a significant step toward labor reduction—a key factor in scaling affordable housing.

The project encountered early setbacks. Initial builds took longer and cost more than expected. But through trial and error, the team refined their methods—adjusting wall thickness and adopting more open floor plans to streamline production.

Lennar and Icon are already preparing their next phase: a new community featuring twice as many homes, lower price points, and enhanced 3D printing capabilities that could eventually fabricate complete building envelopes, including roofs and foundations. The technology also holds promise for disaster-prone regions, where fire-resistant materials and durable design could be life-saving.

Although 3D printed homes have yet to match the profitability of conventional construction, the partnership signals a broader transformation in an industry long resistant to change. If successful, this model could pave the way for more sustainable, resilient, and accessible housing across the country.

Header image credit: Icon

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[hawkbutt]

Hi! I have to admit that I know nothing about Fallout but would like to understand your AU so idk could you explain Fallout for beginners please? (and maybe how the AU works specifically) 🧡

I’m going to try and put this in the most straightforward terms I can and maybe steal a few things from Wikipedia if I can’t.

And I hope you don't mind, I'll publish this as well so others can learn.

There are currently 7 Fallout games: Fallout, Fallout 2, Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel, Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas, Fallout 4, and Fallout 76. (This is not counting the small things like mobile games or the table top games, or even the freaking pinball game either) PLUS there is also the “Fallout”  TV show on Amazon (It's good, My dad who knows NOTHING of Fallout loved it) ▬ The Show on Amazon is based in Los Angeles.

▬ The setting, back story, lore, just a little history:

The series is set in a fictionalized USA in an “alternate history scenario” that diverges from reality after 1945, following World War II. In this alternative "golden age", where atomic physics serves as the foundation of scientific progress, which leads to a bizarre socio-technological status quo. This means things like advanced robots, nuclear-powered cars, directed-energy weapons, and other futuristic technologies are seen alongside 1950s-era computers and televisions. 

▬ Nuka Cola ad featuring Nuka Girl leaning heavily into the atomic/nuclear aspect

The United States divides itself into 13 commonwealths, and the aesthetics and Cold War paranoia of the 1950s dominated the American lifestyle well into the 21st century.

▬ Map of all of the Fallout Commonwealths

The a whole bunch of history happens, it’s honestly wordy and gives the lead-up to how the bombs dropped on the morning of October 23, 2077, a “global nuclear exchange”, which subsequently created the post-apocalyptic United States, the setting of the Fallout world.

▬ Now, in my AU, I say that Buck is from a Vault.

The U.S. government, having foreseen this outcome just a few decades earlier, began a nationwide project to build fallout shelters known as "Vaults".  The Vault-Tec Corporation designed the Vaults as public shelters, each able to support up to a thousand people. Something round 400K Vaults would have been needed if they actually wanted to help the American people, but only 122 were commissioned and constructed. 

Vault Boy; He is the corporate mascot of the Vault-Tec, His female counterpart is Vault Girl. They appear in virtually every released game and evolved over the years into a symbol of the Fallout franchise in general.

However, the Vault project was not intended as a viable method of repopulating the United States; instead, most Vaults were secret social experiments and were designed to determine the effects of different environmental and psychological conditions on their inhabitants. 

▬Lemme just use Norm Maclean (Fallout Series) here to showcase the sort of view in the vault and the lovely blue and gold jumpsuits ALL vault dwellers basically wear.

Now, only Seventeen control Vaults were made to function as advertised, in contrast with the other Vault experiments. However, they were usually shoddy and unreliable due to most of the funding going towards the experimental ones.  Many Vaults remained sealed as part of their respective experiments even after the radiation had reached safe levels.

EDIT: I forgot to actually talk about the Brotherhood of Steel.

▬ Eddie is a former Brotherhood of Steel Knight.

The Brotherhood of Steel, commonly abbreviated to BoS, is a quasi-religious technocratic military order founded in the immediate aftermath of the Great War  The BOS' core purpose is to preserve advanced technology and regulate its use. They believe humanity cannot be trusted with the means to destroy itself, and they think that acquiring technology would prevent another apocalypse. The Basics of BOS came from the fall of the western Roman Empire when the knights and scribes kept the fire of civilization going after the empire imploded. The BOS is a military order with a strictly enforced hierarchy and chain of command. At the foundation, that mandates obedience to one's superiors and forbids circumventing ranks when giving orders. When it comes to the individual members of the BOS, loyalty to and defense of the organization are the top priorities, - 1st: Loyalty to and defense of the organization - 2nd: Dedication and loyalty to the mission. - 3rd: Dedication and loyalty to one's superior officer. Brotherhood members are expected to follow each of these rules in that order. If one's superior should act against the interests of the organization or mission, the third rule is superseded by the second or first rule.

▬ Brotherhood of Steel Ranking Structure

The Brotherhood has been featured in every game and other entry in the Fallout series in one form or another.

▬ My manip of Eddie in a Brotherhood jumpsuit

Eddie's History with the BOS without spoilers

▬ My manip of Eddie in a Brotherhood jumpsuit

While homosexual relationships are generally tolerated, they are pressured to instead seek relationships that will result in 'repopulation.' This leads Eddie to be arranged with Shannon, which then leads to Chris's birth, though Eddie and Shannon are able to keep Chris' Cerebal Palsy (though in the FO Universe, it would be considered his 'disorder or ailment) secret from the BOS for the first few years. BOS finds out about Chris, and would never tolerate someone like Chris within their ranks. Eddie ultimately decides he can no longer remain a part of them, and following his own moral compass, he chooses to desert the BOS.  The Diazs, on their own, now in this new reality, Eddie is constantly on the lookout, aware that his status as AWOL from the BOS makes him a target.

▬ I have planned in the future that Karen is a former Enclave Scientist.

The Enclave is another military organization dedicated to the execution of an all-inclusive holocaust of non-members, who they dehumanize as "genetic non-compliance offenders." While being the continuation of a pre-war American deep state consisting of high-ranking political, military and corporate figures, its members publicly claim to be the direct continuation of the United States of America and its government after the destruction of the world during the Great War.

▬ Enclave power armor, X-01 power armor 

Without going too in-depth with them, it's obvious I hate them, they're the worst, they Suck, and I'm glad Karen left them (In my AU).

here are things I may mention in my AU (when it comes to finally posting my fic)

Pip Boy: The Pip-Boy (Personal Information Processor-Boy) is a wrist computer given to the player (Vault-Dweller) early in the games and series, which serves various roles in quest, inventory, and battle management, as well as presenting player statistics.

▬ This version of the Pip-Boy is not stated in-series, though the official replica sold by The Wand Company is called the Pip-Boy 3000 Mark V

Power Armor: Power Armor, is a type of powered exoskeleton featured in every game in the Fallout series. It allows for protection from enemy fire and enables the wearer to carry cumbersome weapons and other objects with ease. There are so many types, levels and styles of Power Armor. It is considered an iconic part of the Fallout universe, an effective marketing tool for a faceless protagonist, and a prominent symbol within the game's lore. ▬ “Post-war” the Power Armor is most widely used by the Brotherhood of Steel, a cult-like organization that collects and preserves technology (My husband said the BOS is like Mormons and their obsession with Geneology)

▬T-60 Power Armor

There are INSANE Animals that roam the ‘wasteland’. Some were modified by the Government (ie. Death Claws), but some were also just changed by radiation.

▬ BAD: genetically engineered creatures developed by the United States military to replace humans during missions, but they escaped into the wild in the aftermath of the Great War

▬ GOOD: Brahmin are mutated two-headed cattle; they still provide meat, milk, hide, and manual labor.

Ghouls... Ghouls are humans mutated by radiation, rather than killed by it. The mutation process, referred to as "ghoulification", this typically results in an extended lifespan, if not functional immortality, real-time regeneration of wounds allowing for reattaching limbs, and immunity to direct damage resulting from irradiation. However, it changes their appearance, resembling rotting corpses, burn victims, or walking corpses

▬ Cooper Howard - The Ghoul From the Fallout Amazon series

▬ Feral Ghouls in Fallout 4

Now, with my AU, I’m doing a small mix of The TV show, but throwing in elements of Fallout 4 and New Vegas (Kinda) While I won't delve into the details of every single game and its historical context, I hope this overview will provide you with enough information on the basics of Fallout? If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask!

Much Love, ▬ Kenna

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

NSF-funded research heads to the international space station on NASA's SpaceX CRS-32 mission

ISS national lab-sponsored investigations aim to enhance drug manufacturing and develop new materials for aerospace, defense, energy, and robotics

Three investigations funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and sponsored by the International Space Station (ISSInternational Space Station) National Laboratory are launching on SpaceX’s 32nd Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) mission, contracted by NASANational Aeronautics and Space Administration. These experiments leverage the microgravityThe condition of perceived weightlessness created when an object is in free fall, for example when an object is in orbital motion. Microgravity alters many observable phenomena within the physical and life sciences, allowing scientists to study things in ways not possible on Earth. The International Space Station provides access to a persistent microgravity environment. environment to advance fundamental science that could lead to improved pharmaceutical manufacturing, new materials with valuable industrial applications, and the next generation of soft active materials with lifelike properties.

These projects build on a strong, multi-year collaboration between the ISS National Lab and NSF, which allocates millions of dollars to space-based projects within the fields of tissue engineering and transport phenomena, including fluid dynamics. To date, more than 30 projects funded by NSF and sponsored by the ISS National Lab have launched to the orbiting laboratory, with nearly 70 additional projects preparing for flight. Below are details about the three NSF-funded investigations launching on NASA’s SpaceX CRS-32.

Improving Medicine Manufacturing

An investigation by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), supported by Tec-Masters, builds on previous research to examine protein fluid flow and clumping—a problem that occurs during manufacturing of protein-based pharmaceuticals that affects the quality of the drug.

“Proteins are used to make various therapies and must be concentrated in medicines to avoid needing to administer large amounts of fluid,” says Amir Hirsa, professor of mechanical, aerospace, and nuclear engineering at RPI. “But above a certain concentration, the proteins tend to form aggregates or clump.”

On Earth, studying protein behavior is complicated by interactions between the solution and the container used to hold it. But on the ISS, researchers can use the Ring-Sheared Drop module to form liquid into a self-contained sphere held between two rings.

Hirsa and his team can use this device to study protein motion and create more accurate models of the factors that lead to clumping, especially during drug manufacturing and dispensation to patients. The team also can test computer models that predict the behavior of proteins of vastly different concentrations and types, such as hormones and antibodies. Findings from this research could help uncover ways to avoid or reverse protein clumping, which would have a significant impact on the pharmaceutical industry.

“Another very important aspect of this work is making this data, which is so difficult to get, available to other scientists through open data repositories,” says Joe Adam, a research scientist at RPI. “Other scientists may see something even more interesting than we do.”

Developing New Materials

An investigation from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, supported by Leidos, will examine the formation of ceramic composites, which have valuable applications in several industries, including aerospace, defense, and energy. The study focuses on polymer-derived titanium carbide and silicon carbide composites that have electrical conductivity, are stable at high temperature, can be made into almost any shape and size, and are lightweight yet strong.

“These materials can be used in different extreme conditions, such as high temperatures and highly acidic or oxidative environments, where other materials become unstable or cannot survive,” says Kathy Lu, a professor in the Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering.

Studying these composites in microgravity could reveal unique behaviors that cannot be replicated on Earth. Findings from this research could inform new techniques for ground- and space-based manufacturing of materials with specific properties for applications such as heat exchangers, electric systems, energy storage, electrodes, and microsystems.

“Nobody has studied microgravity’s effects on these ceramics, and the results could be helpful for the broader family of ceramics and other possible additives, such as fibers and nanoscale materials,” Lu says.

Studying Active Matter

A research team at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) will leverage microgravity to study active matter—microscopic particles that use energy to produce motion—and its effects on the separation of non-mixable liquids. These liquids, such as oil and water, separate into concentrated droplets of one substance dispersed in the other, a phenomenon known as active liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS). This investigation, supported by Redwire Space Technologies, seeks a better understanding of active LLPS, which plays a key role in physics, materials science, engineering, and biology.

“Active fluids are made of billions of small molecular motors that push and pull on each other and generate a turbulent flow, like a windy day stirs the water on a beach,” says UCSB professor Zvonimir Dogic. “A long-term goal is using active matter in microfluidic devices to stir and control the separation of two substances. We’re trying to create simplified systems that start to mimic biology.”

Active LLPS could be used to create materials with lifelike properties, such as the ability to move, change shape, and self-repair, that could be used to develop more lifelike robotics.

SpaceX CRS-32 is scheduled to launch no earlier than April 21, 2025, at 4:15 a.m., from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

IMAGE: Left: A drop of protein solution less than two and a half centimeters in diameter formed in the RSD onboard the International Space Station. Right: An image showing a computed Newtonian flow diagram for the drop. Credit J. Adam

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Jerry Coyne

Published: Mar 16, 2025

I’ve dissected many crazy papers over the years—just to show what passes for “scholarship” in some of the humanities. Yes, of course there’s good scholarship there, too, but I have a feeling that in STEM you won’t find anything as inconclusive or incoherently written as this paper (h/t: Luana for finding it). And nearly all science papers at least reveal a tentative fact or two about nature. In contrast, many “studies” papers like this one seem like wheel spinning, and are baffling. They seem to be vehicles not for finding knowledge, but getting tenure and promotions. If there is a contribution to human knowledge from this effort, I can’t find it. This one was published in the Journal of Lesbian Studies.

You can read the paper by clicking on the title below, or find the pdf here.

I scanned it once and then read it more carefully a second time, and I swear I still can’t figure out what it’s trying to say. Some AI analysis given below didn’t help much.. Not only is the paper’s thesis obscure, but it is written so poorly, and with the use of so many jargon words (“attending to,” “becomings,” “intersectional ecoqueer feminist perspective,” “disrupt normative ideas,” etc), that it would kill George Orwell if he wasn’t already dead.

The paper notes that Dr. Diamond-Lenow “(she/they) is an Assistant Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies at SUNY Oneonta,” but on the list of faculty in that department I cannot find her.

Knock yourself out (and you will):

Below is the abstract, and I hope you can get something out of it. All I can remember is that lesbians seem to have a special relationship with dogs (and machines like iPhones), and this tells us something about the “the rich complexity of dyke culture and its processes of continually processing and becoming.” (“Becoming” is a favorite word in the paper, and “dyke” is a word used by Diamond-Lenow). And the author decries the misuse of dogs as tools of racism, white supremacy, and militarism.

Abstract: This article offers a queer lesbian feminist analysis attuned to lesbian-queer-trans-canine relationalities. Specifically, the article places queer and lesbian ecofeminism in conversation with Donna Haraway’s work on the cyborg and companion species to theorize the interconnected queer becomings of people, nature, animals, and machines amidst ecologies of love and violence in the 2020s. It takes two key case studies as the focus for analysis: first, the state instrumentalization of dogs and robot dogs for racialized and imperial violence, and second, quotidian queer and lesbian-dog relationalities and becomings. In the first, the article traces how dogs are weaponized as tools of state violence and proposes a queer lesbian feminist critique of white supremacy and militarization that can also extend to a critique of the violence committed through and toward the dogs. In the second, the article analyzes how, within lesbian, non-binary, and trans-dog intimacies, dogs help articulate queer gender, sexuality, and kinship formations, and as such, queer worlds for gender, sexual, and kin becomings. The entanglements of violence and love in these queer dog relationalities provide insights into the complexities of queer and lesbian feminist worldbuilding. Lesbian and queer feminist cyborg politics can help theorize the potentials and challenges of these interspecies entanglements.

Some dog-dissing from the paper, giving a flavor of its content:

As companion species, dogs have been deeply entwined with the gendered and sexual formations of white supremacy and heteronormative domesticity. They play a foundational role in symbolizing the white bourgeois heteronormative nuclear family and the U.S. home. At the same time, dogs are often used to stigmatize and police “improper” homes and communities. For instance, breed-specific bans in the U.S. disproportionately target Black and Brown dog owners, functioning as a form of racialized criminalization (Weaver, Citation 2021). Historically, dogs have been tools of settler colonialism and enslavement mediating racialized naturecultures (Johnson, Citation 2009, Boisseron, Citation 2018). They are also instrumentalized for racialized securitization in policing, border patrol, and carceral systems—they are in this sense, part of the violent cyborg offspring Haraway discusses. Police have long used dogs to intimidate and attack marginalized communities, as seen in numerous documented incidents: during civil rights protests in Birmingham, Alabama in 1963; against anti-police violence protests in Ferguson, Missouri in 2014 (Wall, Citation 2016); against Indigenous activists opposing the Dakota Access Pipeline in North Dakota in 2016 (Democracy Now!, Citation 2016); during Black Lives Matter protests in Baltimore and elsewhere (The Marshall Project, Citation 2020); and most recently, in 2024, against student protests over the genocide in Gaza on college and university campuses (Most, Citation 2024).

Look! Dogs are also vehicles for racial criminalization!

. . . . As companion species, dogs have been deeply entwined with the gendered and sexual formations of white supremacy and heteronormative domesticity. They play a foundational role in symbolizing the white bourgeois heteronormative nuclear family and the U.S. home. At the same time, dogs are often used to stigmatize and police “improper” homes and communities. For instance, breed-specific bans in the U.S. disproportionately target Black and Brown dog owners, functioning as a form of racialized criminalization (Weaver, Citation 2021).

And military dogs are tools of sexualized colonization and dehumanization!:

In the military, dogs are used as cyborg weapons, used to detect Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), patrol bases, police detainees, and target enemies. They played key roles in U.S. interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan, including the killings of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in 2011 (Bumiller, Citation2011) and ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi in Syria in 2019 (Rogers, Citation2019). Dogs were also involved in abuse at Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad in 2004 (Schmitt, Citation2006). These deployments reflect a logic of heteronormative nationalism and sexualized colonization, dehumanizing Arab, Muslim, and Middle Eastern men within necropolitical formations of war (Diamond-Lenow, Citation2020).

There are lots of neologisms like “natureculture”. But here is the paper’s conclusion:

The article thus contributes a queer trans feminist perspective on human-dog becomings to queer ecological critique, highlighting the significance of lesbian queer feminism in analyzing more-than-human relationalities, particularly with dogs.

For some reason the last three words make me laugh out loud.

At any rate, Luana found a site where you can enter the URL of an article like this one, and it will give you both an AI summary and a podcast. I haven’t tried it, but you can if you wish. At any rate, when she put in the URL of this paper, here’s what AI spit out. I must say that it merely reiterates the paper’s language in a way that a cheating student might copy, but doesn’t shed much further  light on this black hole of scholarship:

1. What is the central focus of this article? This article centers on the interconnectedness of queer (specifically lesbian, non-binary, and trans) identities, human-animal (primarily canine) relationships, and technology (drawing on cyborg theory) within contexts of both affection and oppression. It aims to analyze how these entanglements contribute to the formation of queer worlds and how they are shaped by and respond to societal structures of power, particularly white supremacy and militarization.

2. How does the article connect queer ecofeminism with cyborg and companion species theories? The article brings queer and lesbian ecofeminist perspectives into dialogue with Donna Haraway’s concepts of the cyborg (as a hybrid of machine and organism challenging traditional boundaries) and companion species (highlighting the co-evolution and interdependence of humans and domesticated animals). By doing so, it seeks to understand how the relationships between queer individuals and their dogs, in their technologically mediated and ecologically situated contexts, challenge and redefine categories of nature, culture, human, and animal.

3. What are the two main case studies used in the article’s analysis? The article examines two primary case studies: firstly, the ways in which dogs, including robotic dogs, are utilized and instrumentalized by the state for purposes of racialized and imperial violence. Secondly, it analyzes the everyday intimacies and relational experiences between queer (lesbian, non-binary, and trans) individuals and their dogs, focusing on how these relationships contribute to the articulation of queer gender, sexuality, and kinship.

4. How does the article critique the state’s use of dogs and robot dogs? The article offers a queer lesbian feminist critique of the state’s deployment of dogs and robot dogs, particularly in the context of racialized and imperial violence. It argues that this instrumentalization of canines as tools of militarization and control is intertwined with white supremacist ideologies and inflicts violence not only on targeted human populations but also through and toward the dogs themselves. The critique aims to expose the underlying power structures and ethical implications of such practices.

5. In what ways do dogs contribute to the lives and identities of queer individuals, according to the article? The article suggests that dogs play a significant role in the lives of lesbian, non-binary, and trans individuals, contributing to the formation of queer gender, sexuality, and kinship structures. Through intimate relationships with dogs, queer individuals can articulate and experience their identities in ways that challenge normative understandings of these categories. These interspecies bonds help in the creation of queer social worlds and facilitate unique forms of becoming.

6. What does the article mean by “queer canine becomings”? “Queer canine becomings” refers to the ongoing and mutual shaping of identities and ways of being that occur within the relationships between queer individuals and their dogs. It emphasizes that these relationships are not static but rather involve processes of co-creation and transformation. The “queer” aspect highlights how these becomings often challenge and expand conventional understandings of gender, sexuality, and species boundaries.

7. How do love and violence intertwine in the queer dog relationalities discussed in the article? The article posits that queer-dog relationships exist within “ecologies of love and violence.” This means that these intimate bonds are not immune to broader societal forces of oppression and violence. The article explores how the potential for both deep affection and the awareness of systemic violence against both queer individuals and animals shape these interspecies connections, offering insights into the complexities of queer feminist worldbuilding in a non-ideal world.

8. What is the significance of lesbian and queer feminist cyborg politics in understanding these interspecies entanglements? Lesbian and queer feminist cyborg politics, as proposed in the article, provide a theoretical framework for analyzing the potentials and challenges inherent in the entanglements of queer identities, dogs, and technology. This perspective allows for a nuanced understanding of how power operates within these relationships, how boundaries are blurred and renegotiated, and how new forms of resistance and world-making can emerge from these complex interspecies intimacies in the face of both love and violence.

This may be the wackiest paper I’ve ever covered here, though it has had some tough competition.

==

Said it before and I'll say it again: this is outright fraud. Both that this fake nonsense has been dumped as effluent into our knowledge production stream, and the fact taxpayers ultimately paid for this meaningless word salad.

[vague-humanoid]

The war in Gaza has been good for the drone startup XTEND. Since October 7, the Tel Aviv company has pivoted to providing the Israeli military with cheap, nimble robot aircraft. This demand helped the company secure $40 million in new venture capital funding, bringing its total raised to $60 million. That money will go toward software refinements to better serve Israel’s Ministry of Defense, its co-founder and CEO Aviv Shapira touted in a press release. 

Yet despite its venture capital bounty and recent military contracts, XTEND has also been asking for charity.

“Join Us in Supporting Israel’s Defense,” read the text on the Xtend-Support-Israel.com website, directly above a large “DONATE” button. All donations would be “used for the immediate production & deployment of life saving systems for our IDF troops on the frontlines.” The site included a dazzling marketing montage of XTEND robots zooming across buildings, smashing through windows, and dropping what appears to be an explosive device from the air, “enabling soldiers to perform accurate maneuvers in complex combat scenarios.”

XTEND’s fundraising page — taken offline shortly after The Intercept raised questions about it — is one of several similar efforts soliciting charitable, tax-deductible donations to bolster Israeli national security. 

U.S. law governing charitable contributions gives wide leeway to nonprofits operating overseas, though questions linger about directing such donations to fund combat.

XTEND did not respond to a request for comment and questions about its Israel Defense Forces fundraising campaign. The Israeli nonprofit AlmaLinks, which was listed on the site as participating in the fundraiser, told The Intercept that upon learning of the campaign it asked XTEND to take it down. A PayPal page for the fundraiser told American donors that tax-free contributions could be sent through the U.S.-based donor-advised fund FJC: A Foundation of Philanthropic Funds. FJC disavowed the campaign and said the drone startup was being instructed to cease and desist use of its name. 

[danganronpasurvivoraskblog]

If Kotoko’s and Masaru’s old robots have been repurposed by OZ then it stands to reason the others have as well.

Well, I'm not totally certain what happened to the Warrior of Hope robots when I left earth. I kind of kicked them off my rocket ship and scattered them around the world.

Based on the data, three of them have turned up. Kotoko's robot was used against the Future Foundation early on, and I'm pretty sure Zetsubou still have it in storage somewhere, and now they've got Masaru's too. Nagisa's was used by Zen Katagiri in the U.S before Kuripa destroyed it.

Jataro's and mine are the only two where we don't know what happened to them.

[g-kaur13]

Astro Boy (1980-1981)

-Noboru Ishiguro.

Astro Boy (October 1, 1980 - December 23, 1981) also know as New Mighty Atom is a color remake of the 1960’s anime black and white series. It is also the last Astro Boy work that Tezuka himself wrote and directed, and the humour of the story and direction that is typical of Tezuka can be seen throughout. The original Japanese version of the series ran for 52 episodes while the English dub ran for 51 Episodes as the first two were combined into one.

Technique Section:-

The Tv animation series, Astro Boy is known as one of Osamu Tezuka’s seminal works that changed the history of Japanese Animation. The 1980’s are considered the ‘golden age’ of Japanese anime, it saw a huge explosion of genres and intrest. Many factors contributed to this, including the introduction of VHS and children who were inspired by Tetsuwan Atom (Astro Boy) twenty years ago, growing up and becoming nostalgic for their favourite show. Osamu Tezuka’s love of animation as an art form ran deep, and right from thr very begining he knew that he wanted to push the artistic boundaries as much than the commercial ones. 

Although the original Black and White Astro Boy (1963-1966) television series is often credited with getting Mushi Production’s animation division off the ground, it’s quit telling that despite the pressure to succeed at the enormous task he would set for himself- the complete production of a weekly animated television program on a shoestring budget- he still held fast to the dream of creating animation as fine art. Under the original English name, it kept the same classic art style art style as the original manga and anime, but was revisioned and moderized with more lush, high-quality, near-theatrical animation and visuals. It combined the playfulness of the early anime with the darker, more serious and dramatic Science fiction themes of the manga and 1980’s series.

Representation Section:-

 In the series Astro boy, Astro is the main character, who has a strong sense of morality and is always gentle and kind towards other. AStro is a superpowered robot, with seven secret super powers. He looks exactly like his creator Tobio. Throughout the series, Atlas attempts to persuade Astro to help Atlas conquer the world. By design, both AStro and Atlas were created from the same blueprints, and so they are considered to be brothers. However, Astro refuses to help Atals in his quest for world domination. Astro’s voice is dubbed by Mari Shimizu to continue with Patricia Kugler Whitley for American Version and then 12 year old Steven Bednarski for Canadian Version.

Reception Section:-

Astro Boy was dubbed in two different English Languages. The first was coordinated by Tezuka Productions and Nippon TV and dubbed in 1982, which aried in Australia from 1983 to 1998. It had a very limited release in the U.S. This version was later released on DVD in both Australia and the United States. iIn the Philippines, the series was aired on RPN in the 1980’s. The second English dub was heavily edited and redubbed in Canada in 1985. In the Canadian version most of the character names were different from the American counterparts. In India, the Hindi-dubbed version of this show was broadcasted on Pogo from 2008-2009. The first two episodes of the series were edited into one episode, completely removing the subplot of Atlas origin. Astro Boy is said to be the first popular anime created based on a manga, providing the foundation for the animation of popular comics. Without Astro Boy and it creators, Japanese manga and anime might not have seen the great success that followed and continues to his day. In todays day, it be be hard-pressed to find a person grown up in Japan who is not aware of Astro Boy. The  anime theme tune is still commonly used in sporting events and performances.

Personally, I myself have also enjoyed this series in my childhood. Seeing this series after so longs gives nostalgic feeling and it made me miss my old days when i use to watch it with my siblings and cousins.

Refrences:-

https://characterdesignreferences.com/art-of-animation-8/art-of-astro-

boy#:~:text=Under%20the%20original%20English%20name,near%2Dtheatrical%20animation%20and%20visuals.

astro-boy-influence

[sganalytics]

APIs, Automation, and Entity Integrity: The Future of Legal Entity Data

In the modern data-driven economy, the availability, quality, and integrity of legal entity data are essential for effective business strategies, compliance, and operational efficiency. Organizations are dealing with more complicated global compliance requirements, intricate organization entity structures, and the need for immediate data availability. To keep up with these demands, businesses are adopting a mix of automation, APIs, and entity integrity in order to improve their data governance and management processes.

The Challenge of Managing Legal Entity Data

Legal entity data includes crucial details like entity titles, registration IDs, jurisdictions, ownership structures, and activity updates. This information supports multiple important activities, including KYC, AML (Anti Money Laundering) processes, accounting, acquisitions, and supply chain risks.

Despite its importance, legal entity data faces issues including duplication, inconsistency, outdated records, and data silos. These issues can cause compliance breaches, reputational damage, and poor business decisions. With the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the U.S. Corporate Transparency Act, and newer rules regarding AML, organizations cannot continue to depend on manual workflows or legacy systems to maintain and manage legal entity data. Automation, APIs, and entity integration help solve these matters.

APIs: Enabling Real-Time Data Integration

APIs are transforming the methods through which businesses seek, share, and integrate legal entity information. They create a safe environment for interaction between different software systems, allowing real-time communication. This allows organizations to fetch the latest legal entity information from authoritative government registries, financial institutions, or third-party data providers.

Also, APIs can enhance internal datasets by adding external data, as for example ownership structures, beneficial ownership details, or even sanctions list screening data. This helps in creating a more complete and accurate entity profile, which aids risk assessment and due diligence processes.

Automation: Reducing Manual Work and Increasing Scale

The use of automation improves APIs by providing workflows that are scalable, repeatable, and less prone to human error. Now, hours spent by legal, compliance, and operations teams checking entity data or preparing reports can be done with one click. Automated processes can monitor data streams, identify errors, and take corrective action in real time.

For example, robotic process automation (RPA) tools can streamline rule-based tasks such as updating corporate registries, matching entity records, or creating audit trails. Combining automation with machine learning enables the system to improve by learning from past oversight.

Automation improves business agility, making it easier for companies to adapt to changes such as new regulations, mergers, or expansion to other regions. These changes can be implemented faster because workflows can be scaled or reconfigured without the need to redesign an entire system.

Entity Integrity: The Foundation of Trustworthy Data

To maintain entity integrity at scale, businesses are increasingly adopting entity management software that integrates and manages all legal entity data on a single, centralized system. Such tools enable businesses to standardize entity records, assign and track unique identifiers, and implement validation rules at departmental and geographic levels. When paired with automation and API capabilities, these systems guarantee that every piece of entity data, regardless of internal or external sourcing, meets the highest standards of accuracy and consistency. This level of control enhances compliance and also optimizes the legal, finance, and governance functions of the organization

By maintaining entity integrity, businesses reduce the risks that arise from poor data quality, such as financial inaccuracies, compliance breaches, and operational inefficiencies. Also, such data helps organizations enhance decision-making, improve onboarding experiences, and enable advanced analytics.

A Unified Vision for the Future

The future of legal entity data is within an ecosystem where connectivity (through APIs), efficiency (through automation), and reliability (entity integrity) exist. Together, these pillars support a data strategy that is real-time, scalable, and audit-ready. This is exactly what modern businesses and regulators demand.

Forward-thinking companies are working with partners providing product development services to custom build platforms, focusing on their entity data needs. From developing compliance systems with APIs to incorporating AI-driven entity resolution powers, these provided services allow for the creation of adaptable solutions.

Conclusion

With legal entity data becoming more essential for businessess, it is clear that companies need to update their data management strategies. APIs enable businesses to access and share data in real time, automation streamlines repetitive work, and a promise to maintain entity integrity builds a solid basis of trust.

These three parts working together will transform legal entity data management, promote innovation, improve compliance, and facilitate informed decisions. The strategic advantage goes to the organization that treats legal entity data as a critical component for intelligent decisions.

[cybersecurityict]

Digital Transformation Market – Will Cloud and AI Redefine Competitive Advantage by 2032

Digital Transformation Market was valued at USD 895.7 Billion in 2023 and is expected to reach USD 6877.6 Billion by 2032 and grow at a CAGR of 25.44% from 2024-2032.

Digital Transformation Market is reshaping global industries as organizations accelerate the adoption of advanced technologies to remain competitive. Cloud computing, AI, IoT, automation, and big data are no longer optional—they're foundational. Companies across sectors are rethinking operations, improving customer experience, and building agile infrastructure to drive long-term success.

U.S.: Enterprises are rapidly embracing digital-first models to lead in agility, scalability, and efficiency

Digital Transformation Market continues to thrive as enterprises prioritize innovation and resilience. With increased investment in digital tools, especially post-pandemic, the market has evolved into a strategic priority. Businesses are now focusing on seamless integration, data-driven decision-making, and enhancing productivity through smarter digital ecosystems.

Get Sample Copy of This Report: https://www.snsinsider.com/sample-request/2834 

Market Keyplayers:

Microsoft - Microsoft Azure

IBM - IBM Watson

Salesforce - Salesforce Customer 360

Oracle - Oracle Cloud Infrastructure

SAP - SAP S/4HANA

Google - Google Cloud Platform

Amazon Web Services (AWS) - AWS Lambda

Cisco - Cisco Meraki

Accenture - myConcerto

Deloitte - Deloitte Digital

Infosys - Infosys Digital Services

Capgemini - Capgemini Cloud Services

Wipro - Wipro HOLMES

HCL Technologies - HCL Digital Transformation Services

Adobe - Adobe Experience Cloud

TCS (Tata Consultancy Services) - TCS BaNCS

ServiceNow - ServiceNow ITSM

Atos - Atos Digital Transformation Solutions

Zebra Technologies - Zebra's SmartVision

Pega - Pega Customer Decision Hub

Market Analysis

The digital transformation journey is being shaped by rising customer expectations, the demand for real-time insights, and the need to modernize legacy systems. In both the U.S. and Europe, industries including finance, healthcare, manufacturing, and retail are leveraging digital tools to streamline operations, ensure compliance, and unlock new growth avenues. Strategic partnerships between tech providers and enterprises are further fueling adoption.

Market Trends

Surge in cloud-native application development

Increased investment in AI-powered analytics

Adoption of remote and hybrid work tech stacks

Growth of edge computing for faster data processing

Rise in cybersecurity platforms integrated with digital infrastructure

Expansion of RPA (Robotic Process Automation) to automate workflows

Use of digital twins in manufacturing and infrastructure

Market Scope

The Digital Transformation Market is expanding at an unprecedented pace, touching nearly every industry and process. Organizations are not only adopting technology but embedding it into their core strategies.

End-to-end digital integration across business units

Scalable SaaS platforms supporting cross-functional teams

Industry-specific transformation frameworks

Real-time customer experience management tools

AI and machine learning models enhancing personalization

Smart infrastructure for cities and enterprises

Forecast Outlook

The market outlook for digital transformation is one of aggressive innovation and cross-industry convergence. With continuous advancement in AI, automation, and cloud computing, enterprises will increasingly leverage digital technologies to boost agility and customer-centricity. U.S. and European firms are expected to lead in deployment, setting benchmarks for global digital maturity. Competitive advantage will hinge on speed of adoption, data utilization, and transformation strategy execution.

Access Complete Report: https://www.snsinsider.com/reports/digital-transformation-market-2834 

Conclusion

Digital transformation is no longer about future-proofing—it's about leading the present. In a market where agility defines market share, businesses that integrate digital into their DNA will dominate. As the U.S. sets benchmarks in enterprise-scale deployment and Europe emphasizes secure, compliant digital growth, the stage is set for an era of smarter, faster, and more connected organizations.

About Us:

SNS Insider is one of the leading market research and consulting agencies that dominates the market research industry globally. Our company's aim is to give clients the knowledge they require in order to function in changing circumstances. In order to give you current, accurate market data, consumer insights, and opinions so that you can make decisions with confidence, we employ a variety of techniques, including surveys, video talks, and focus groups around the world.

Related Reports:

U.S.A embraces cutting-edge innovations to revolutionize the Digital Farming Market

U.S.A sees rising investment in the Distribution Automation Market to boost energy efficiency and reliability

Contact Us:

Jagney Dave - Vice President of Client Engagement

Phone: +1-315 636 4242 (US) | +44- 20 3290 5010 (UK)

Mail us: info@snsinsider.com

[brighterprep]

Beyond the Grades: The Undeniable X-Factors for Elite US University Admissions |  BrighterPrep Guide for Students

For aspiring students across the Middle East, setting your sights on elite U.S. universities is an ambitious yet achievable dream. Many focus intensely on academic excellence – and rightly so. Stellar grades and strong standardized test like SAT prep or ACT are foundational. But after years of guiding students to top-ranked American colleges, we at BrighterPrep know the secret sauce: it's what you do beyond the classroom that truly sets you apart.

These institutions seek individuals, not just transcripts. They look for genuine character, impactful contributions, and a spark that promises future innovation. So, how to get into elite U.S. universities from UAE? Let's explore the critical "x-factors" they truly value.

The "Obsession" Factor: Translating Passion into Purpose

It's easy to list hobbies. It's far more compelling to demonstrate a deep, sustained commitment to something you genuinely love. This isn't about being perfect; it's about being profoundly engaged.

What it looks for: Instead of merely joining your school's robotics club, did you take it upon yourself to design and build a functional prototype addressing a local traffic problem in Sharjah? Did your fascination with ancient history lead you to independently translate rare Arabic manuscripts, uncovering new insights? Or perhaps your love for astrophysics spurred you to create a podcast demystifying black holes for a younger audience in the GCC? Admissions committees want to see how your passion translates into tangible projects and meaningful contributions.

A Different Angle: This is about showing your intellectual curiosity and the proactive steps you take. It's less about ticking a box and more about illustrating a journey of deep interest and exploration.

Authentic Influence: Leading with Impact, Not Just Position

Many believe "leadership" means holding a presidential title. While positions are fine, Ivy league universities values impact over mere hierarchy. They want to see how you've genuinely influenced a situation or group.

What it looks for: Rather than just being the Head Prefect, did you identify a significant issue (e.g., mental health awareness among teens in Doha) and then design and implement a peer-support program that significantly reduced stigma? Did you organize a fundraising drive for a charity in your community, not just collecting money, but also inspiring a significant portion of your school to volunteer? Did you mentor younger students in a STEM field, directly leading to their improved performance or increased interest? They look for the "before and after" story – how things improved because of your initiative.

A Different Angle: Focus on the actionable change you initiated. How did your involvement alter the landscape, however small, for the better? This speaks volumes about your leadership skills.

The Unquenchable Thirst: Learning Beyond the Syllabus

Top-ranked American colleges are places of deep intellectual pursuit. They seek students who aren't content with just what's taught in class, but who actively seek knowledge and understanding on their own terms.

What it looks for: Have you delved into advanced computer science topics through online university courses, well beyond your high school curriculum? Did you read seminal works in philosophy or economics that challenged your worldview and prompted profound questions? Did you conduct independent research on renewable energy solutions specifically applicable to the desert climate of the UAE? This demonstrates genuine intellectual curiosity and a self-driven pursuit of knowledge.

A Different Angle: It’s about your intellectual vitality. Show them you're a self-starter when it comes to learning, that you engage with complex ideas because you genuinely want to, not because you have to.

Ivy Tip: Tell Your Story, Don't Just List Achievements.

When applying to top US universities, your personal essay and supplemental responses are your canvas. This is where your unique background, values, and experiences come alive. Seek college essay writing assistance to ensure your authentic voice shines through.

Don't just impress them with your accomplishments; intrigue them with who you are and why you do what you do. Your journey, your reflections, and your growth matter immensely. This is where college admission requirements for international students truly go beyond grades.

Ready to Make Your Application Unforgettable?

Understanding these nuances is key for how to get into top U.S. universities from UAE. From crafting a compelling narrative through personal statement editing services to strategizing extracurricular activities for college applications and securing powerful letters of recommendation guidance, every element counts.

BrighterPrep provides comprehensive undergraduate application help for top U.S. colleges, offering tailored best college application guidance. We also assist with understanding university application deadlines for international students, exploring scholarships and even connecting you with U.S. university summer programs. As leading study abroad consultants in the Middle East, BrighterPrep is here to help you articulate your unique strengths and present a compelling application that truly showcases your potential. Contact us today!

[manostaxx]

The signposts are pointing the way: The Factory of the Future, where information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT) converge, is straight ahead and the road leading to it is a superhighway of technology, innovation, and advanced capabilities. This four-part series examines the definition of the Factory of the Future, common characteristics, benefits, and how to get started. Defining the Factory of the Future The Factory of the Future has an evolving definition, even different names. Some call it Smart Manufacturing, Industry 4.0 or the Digital Enterprise. While the terms vary, some elements are always in common. The Factory of the Future is the product of fast-changing disruptive technologies hitting manufacturing like a cyclone.  Information technology and operational technology are both seeing drastic innovations. The convergence of these two forces is creating a paradigm shift. Manufacturing is experiencing the fourth industrial revolution. We are already seeing results: According to a report from SCM World, 40% of manufacturers they surveyed say that smart manufacturing along with its foundational technology—the Internet of Things—is within reach, and it’s the right time to invest. Huffington Post reports that early adopters who have at least partially implemented smart manufacturing initiatives have documented measurable results: 82% reported increased efficiency 49% reported fewer product defects 45% reported customer satisfaction gains The impact promises to grow and be even more substantial as manufacturers and their suppliers deploy and integrate more technologies across the entire manufacturing landscape. Greater speed, value, innovation, and closer alignment with demanding customers will be the new normal. Analysts often cite the year 2020 as the next milestone moment. Some point to 2030 or 2050 as being the thresholds. Find the Latest Internet-of-Things News, Trends and Best Practices No matter which date you want to target, it is clear that substantial change is coming and coming fast. That future looks promising.  Perhaps manufacturing will at last be able to leave behind the public impressions of labor-intensive, dirty and dangerous worksites, and bury once and for all the memories of plant closings and shipping jobs to low-cost countries, leaving communities devastated. Manufacturing will be new again. We are on the way. According to the U.S. Department of Defense, nearly 900,000 new manufacturing jobs have been created since February 2010. Disruptive technologies have been appearing on the horizon for several quarters now, starting to build the momentum and define the characteristics of the Factory of the Future, including: Social and mobile capabilities were some of the first next-generation trends that became must-have capabilities very quickly. Product configuration tools, integrated computer-assisted design (CAD) systems and late-stage assembly helped manufactures meet demands for mass customization. Robotics changed operational technology dramatically, just as shop-floor automation revolutionized workflows and production cycles. Big data started conversations about factories becoming predictive, leveraging analytics and creating strategies for identifying customer expectations. Cloud computing fueled the imagination further, making storage of immense pools of data possible. 3D printing launched a hype cycle that was—and still is—staggering. The Internet of Things far surpasses all of these disruptive technologies. The potential impact of the IoT is truly staggering and hard to grasp. While projections vary greatly, they are always described in trillions. McKinsey & Co. anticipates the global economic value to be $11 trillion, and Cisco predicts a $19 trillion opportunity. This isn’t an absolute list, nor is there just one checklist of IT and OT tools that must be deployed to be considered a Factory of the Future. Some manufacturers will need more; some will be able to leverage two or three disruptive technologies to create a strong market position. There is o...