People often incorrectly brand Luddites. The followers of a man named Ludd were very much in favor of proper and skilled (ethical) use of technology. But that’s not often what people mean when they invoke the Luddites. Luddite advocacy was undermined by fraudulent counter-claims (those opposed tried to frame any ethical regulation of technology at … Continue reading This Day in History: 1812 Luddites Attack to Save Society From Itself→
Here’s a shocking revelation: crosswalks don’t protect pedestrians. As you maybe read here before when I joked about the fantasy crime called “jaywalking”, or wrote about cultural disparities in road safety, crosswalks are an unfair conspiracy by American car manufacturers that removed non-motorized forms of transportation (including pedestrians and especially women on bicycles) from the … Continue reading Quebec Converts Crosswalks to Pop-up Car Barriers→
GPS has been known unreliable for a very long time. Ten years ago I wrote about it here, and more recently participated in tests that successfully fooled Tesla navigation systems such that it made a car drive erratically and abruptly exit a highway. Trouble in navigation probably is why the USAF is announcing new technology … Continue reading USAF StormBreaker Smart Bomb→
The tragedy of Boeing’s 737 product security decisions create a sad trifecta for someone interested in aeronautics, lessons from the past, and risk management. First, there was a sailor’s warning. We know Boeing moved a jet engine into a position that fundamentally changed handling. This was a result of Airbus ability to add a more … Continue reading A Sailor-Historian-Technologist Perspective on the Boeing 737 MAX Disaster→