Part 59 A new age.

 (Written 2023 but not published until now)

  Hi all.

A long time since my last post and boy have things changed in that time.

Firstly, I turned 70 and decided to retire. It's now been a year and as much as I enjoy not going to work, I am a little bored.

So, how to get around that? I know, take up yet another hobby.

This time it's flying. Real aeroplanes not models...

I looked at ultralights because a normal pilot license was well beyond my financial reach and, to my surprise,  found that the rules have changed. There is now the Light sports aircraft category which changed the whole perspective. 

We even build a lot of these planes in Australia:

So  cool.

You can even buy your own LSA for the price of a car..... 

LSA aeroplanes are around the size of a small Cessna but are much cheaper to buy and you can do your own maintenance which removes a huge cost factor.

Once you get the restricted Recreational Pilots Certificate you can then do navigation and fly anywhere in Australia outside of controlled air space. Something I am looking forward to, as touring this great country is something I have always wanted to do.

All at a fraction of the cost and hassle of going through the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA, the Aussie equivalent of the US FAA).

Now that I found that I can afford to learn to fly, I did.

15.3 air hours later and I am landing and taking of regularly and looking at my first solo flight. 

 Update... January 2026.

 Things did not go as planned. Then, when do they ever. 

Man plans, God laughs, so they say.

 Well he had a belly laugh at my expense. The rules changed so the training plane I was using could no longer be used so there was  a considerable delay in getting a new one. Eventually (six months) training recommenced. 

Problems with the aircraft and it was decided to install a new engine, another delay of several months. The owner gave me a call while waiting and invited me to go for a joyflight in his private plane, A legend 600.

 Obviously I jumped at the chance and off we went for a nice scenic flight along Perth Western Australia southern coastline. Beautiful day, smooth air, one of those days that it's great to be alive.

Queue the heavenly background laughter. 

 We were flying along nicely at 2000 feet in smooth air when the plane began to shudder and the rudder pedal started jumping for a few seconds, Somewhat surprised we put it down to turbulence and climbed to 2600 feet to clear it. Suddenly it happened again but more severe and the whole plane shook. It stopped after a few seconds before we could react it started again followed by a loud bang and the rudder pedals sank to the floor, immediately the plane went into a tight spin. 

Normally at this point the tale would end as the only way to recover from a spin id by applying rudder but we no longer had one. This usually end with a big hole in the ground and scattered bits and pieces including the crew but the owners' forward planning paid off. He had installed a ballistic parachute on the plane. He quickly hit that and a rocket blew out the back window dragging a parachute behind it. A sudden shock and we were suspended nose down in a somewhat slower descent. After we shut of the engine and all electrics it was actually a very pleasant trip down but the we saw the trees below us and had a discussion about whether we would land softly or hit a tree. Queue heavenly laughter again. 

We hit a tree about 30 feet above the ground. The chute collapsed and the sudden weight increase was too great for the tree and we fell the rest of the way to the ground. 

What should have happened was this .

 

But what happened was this.

 

A $200,000 plus aircraft reduced to rubble. Fortunately both of those on board were OK. The owner had nothing but bruises and I had bruises plus a cut on my finger that needed nine stitches from a cosmetic surgeon.

A small price to pay when you consider the alternatives.

Several hours later I rolled up to hospital to get the finger stitched. That was something else. I went to the Triage window and when asked what was the problem I said I had a cut on my finger. She asked me how it happened and I told her I had been in a plane crash. Well.. It hit the fan then. A quick call on the PA and I was rushed to the resuscitation unit, basically the only person there that was conscious. Word got around and I had doctors and nurse from all over the hospital coming in to see the photos. I ended up spending the night there and had Cat scans and all sorts of tests before being released. I finally got the finger stitched at a private clinic.

 

Not the best day of my life but certainly one of the most memorable, one I won't forget in a hurry. 

You know the worst part of the whole thing, The West Australian newspaper published the story about two elderly men. Now that hurt more than the cras... 

See next chapter for follow up. 

 

Part 58 - Let the sun shine in.

 The war in the Ukraine and Rusian sanctions is creating power shortages and rising prices throughout the world for oil, gas and coal, not to mention food.

Here in Australia, at least on the east coast, gas prices are soaring and the fossil fuel power grid is on the verge of shutdown. Not that there is a shortage of power generation but the coal price for export is so high that they lose money by running the generators. 

Old technology is causing increasing breakdowns and many coal fired stations are bring forward their shutdown dates. 

Years of neglect of the screamingly obvious need to move to renewables by the previous federal government has left most of Australia in this position. Except for Western Australia.

The government here is running trials of community batteries to "smooth" the grid and we have the highest uptakes of solar and wind power in Australia. So much so that the state government has just announced the closing dates for the last two coal power stations.

Now, with the new federal government we have a commitment to reach climate change targets for real, not just by fudging the figures. They are also looking at a full renewables program, hopefully subsidising elecrtric vehicles as well.

So what's the point here? Well, it shows that sticking your head in the sand and hoping that technology won't change is a fools game. 

The biggest problem with having your head in the sand is that when things come back to bite you on the bum, you don't see them coming.

Part 57 A brave new world (for many reasons)

Today is the first day of the rest of my life. That was a quote I used when I retired last week.

I have finally turned 70 (going on 30 in my head) and decided that I was sick of what I was doing so I retired.

whether that's a good move or not I have yet to decide. I love not getting up in the cold and fighting traffic. My time is now my own... But there's so much of it!

Like everything else, there is a need to readjust and work out what I want to do, but I must admit, that's not a bad problem to have.

This is my first blog in quite a while and what a lot of history has passed in that time. 

Trump gone (hopefully for ever), Covid, changing the world in so many ways. The horrific war in the Ukraine and food and fuel shortages because of it.

The winding back of globalisation. Automation due to lack of employees due to covid.

On the other hand, in Australia we now have a new government that seems to actually be in the 21st century which makes a nice change from the Morrison spin party.

They want to use technology rather than deny it exists and actually do something about climate change other than talk around it.

As with all new governments, the talk is good but the actions that come from it speak the loudest.

Lets hope reality does have a very loud voice.

Part 56 To be or not to be, that is the question.

To be or not to be, that is the question. 

This could well be the catch phrase of the Australian government at the moment.

With a spin doctor as PM we get nothing but vague statements with no substance.

The whole world has seen Australia's (Morrison's) non policy that encourages coal and gas production at full speed with the hope of undeveloped "Green" hydrogen as the lynchpin for our salvation. The world has reacted accordingly with Australia rated at zero for climate policy.

Add to that the fact that instead of encouraging electric vehicles by increasing emission standards or giving incentives to buy electric vehicles, Morrison has pulled another spin. Lets give subsidies for 50,000 charging stations in homes.

This is a win win for Morrison. There are only 20,000 electric vehicles in Australia and most of those will already have worked out charging systems. With no incentive to buy electric cars , then this is a very safe policy with minimal cost. 

Great spin, zero result for climate change and car buyers but terrific PR.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch (before it gets sold out under us) is the fact that car manufacturers won't bring electric cars here as they can't compete on cost and don't have a large market so it's easier to dump their older, polluting models as we have minimal emission standards. Hell even our fuel is polluting because we don't have decent standards for that either.  

So what can we do? 

We need to create an outcry!

Australia has been a leader in technology development and uptake for generations, until now.

This clip is old, but remember it when it comes time to vote.

States are working hand over fist to get to zero emissions despite the federal government and it's showing results.

So if we do nothing then we will get nothing. Now is the time to get involved, help to get Australia back where it belongs by getting everyone from every party involved and get us moving in the right direction.

As I always say, technology, once it's out there it won't go away. If we don't adapt it to our needs and use it to our advantage then it will adapt us and that most likely will not be a good thing.

Part 55 - Alternate facts, fake news, propaganda is thy name

 Propaganda is a latin term that means to disseminate or spread information.

In modern times this has been abused so much that it now has the meaning of pushing a specific view, these days referred to simply as fake news. However, fake news is quite often taken as fact by those that don't want to question or simply want to believe, which makes it very difficult to actually get reality as some media tend to push these stories as fact. With the mass of competing media today, may "Journalists" grab stories straight off the internet with no or minimal fact checking.

Political leaders in modern times have capitalised on that to to the extent of threatening their own countries political structure in attempts to retain power at all cost. 

But lets keep it simple and call it misinformation.

These days we hear fact free announcements about 5G causing everything from birth defects to Corona Virus, wind power generators causing cancer and vaccinations causing autism or being used to implant microchips for mind control.

Even Covid is touted as a man made disease to control population growth or a fake disease no worse that a cold.

The fact that some governments have been actively supporting these stories because it works to their advantage, means that they are now between a rock and a hard place trying to overcome what has been accepted as the new normal.

Even here in Australia we have federal member of parliament, Craig Kelly, still pushing anti vax propaganda and that hydroxychloriquine is a cure for Covid despite the lack of any evidence. He has now been hit  with a one week ban by Facebook for just that. As we all know, that's a very harsh punishment (sarcasm).

Hopefully, with the world starting to swing back from populism we may have a chance with the grownups back in the room. 

But then again, it could be a long battle as there are still a lot of people out there that still think the US election was rigged and a pedophile ring run by the Clintons still exists in a New York Pizza shop.

Hopefully, what will come out of this is a much better understanding and control of social media.

In Australia, you have a right to say a lot of things, but if you slander or libel anyone then you have to be able to prove it. It's not a given that you can say anything just because it's your opinion. We actually don't have an enshrined right of free speech, just common law acceptance, so you can't hide behind the law.

Here's how fake news works.

Interestingly, you can create a Wiki page with fake facts, post it everywhere on the internet, hope media picks it up then use it as a citation for the wiki page!

Isn't the internet great?

How can you recognise fake news?

Australia starts covid injections.

Part 55 - I have a dream...

Research and polling by Australia's ABC has shown a significant commonality in what people are most concerned with in Australia and it is probably fair to say that this would be similar in most comparable countries.

The most common concerns are:

• Household debt
• Cost of living
• Ageing
• Poverty
• Wealth inequity
• The economy
• Unemployment
• Drug and alcohol abuse and water also figure prominently

Most of the issues are related to money in one way or another and when you take into consideration  the future of work from a perspective of automation and AI then at first glance the outlook appears to be much bleaker.

AI and automation will change the workforce and reduce jobs, that's a given.

But the outlook doesn't have to be negative.

If the government chooses to look at Australia from a realistic view instead of a political one, then we may have a chance of addressing our concerns and turn automation to our advantage.

But when government's main focus is to take us back to a rose coloured 1950's then we're all in strife. 

If we don't have jobs and have to rely on $40 a day, be abused as not wanting to work and have to compete fiercely for those that are available, then "Houston, we have a problem".

And it won't get better.

An aging population will create labour shortages in the short term which will be filled by automation. 

This will produce less jobs and those that are available will require a higher skill set which many people won't have or be able to get through a lack of education or ability. Not everyone has the potential to become highly educated, that's a fact of nature not laziness or lack of application.

We are what we are.

So if you have a go, it doesn't mean that you will get a go, the real world doesn't work that way, it just looks good on a campaign slogan.

So how do we fix this?

Not easily and not quickly but we do need to get the ball rolling by firstly getting engagement from politicians and industry and acceptance of the fact that world is changing rapidly and we need to change with it.

That is probably the biggest hurdle, dragging politicians into the 21st century.

Industry should be easier as they know the impact of technology on their business and that if they don't have customers with money then they don't have a market.

Once people are on board we need to look at the welfare systems and how to change the thinking in this area to reflect reality.

$40 a day wont cut it when we have a large percentage of the population relying on public income to live when there is little prospect of getting a job in the foreseeable future.

Universal basic income has to be an option and the best way of doing that has to be determined in a fair and equable way not by political consideration.

However to do nothing will condemn a large part of the population to a life of poverty and despair.

In a simplistic view we must use technology to produce output faster at lower cost and use the savings to fund UBI, obvious much more involved than that, but the point is we have to get the conversation started.

We can be a prosperous country in the new age and share it for all people not just a few as the time for having our collective heads buried in sand is long past.

If we don't exploit change to our advantage then we will become victims of it.
#votepirate
#BasicIncome

  

    

Part 54 - Australia, the future is in your hands

Australia and much of the world is at a crossroads that most people don't even realise exists.

We have an ageing population which means that as the older generations retire we have less people left in the workforce.

Combine that with the fact that most people today in Australia don't leave school until year 12 and many go on to university so we have a higher educated group entering the workforce.
Higher education and being born into an age where their parents are usually reasonably well off means that job expectations are quite high.

So, we are approaching a point where there will be less people to fill jobs and those left have high expectations and can pick and choose.

Therein lies a problem.

Who fills the low paid repetitive jobs?

A few solutions:

• Bring in cheaper foreign workers
• Outsource the jobs overseas
• Automate the jobs and keep them in Australia

Given the current world of politics, the first two choices would not go down well, so automation and keeping it in the country would be the logical choice.

OK so now we have a solution, but it pushes even bigger problems down the track. 

When the baby boomers are out of the work system, they will live longer but won't live forever. Then we get the new generations becoming the majority and looking for work, but by then we have very high levels of automation.

Now what?

  

This is when we get the real impact where there are more people than jobs and less and less jobs being created.

This is where social systems have to change.

Being unemployed will no longer be considered as a liability but the new normal for many people, particularly those that don't have high tech capability and don't have the ability to get there.  

As a responsible society we have an obligation to ensure everyone has the right to an income and can choose how they live their lives.

So, do we wait until we reach that point and tackle it then? 

NO. 

The time to act is now. 

Government must begin to address it now while we have the time to do it properly.

If we wait, then it will become a knee jerk reaction for short term political gain ....  and we all know how well that works in the real world. 

So we need to act now and plan it out so it becomes a win win situation.

Any other way and we run the very real risk of becoming victims of technology.

This is the major platform I am standing on for the Australian Senate and very much want to get involved in making this work for Australia.

Your support can help.

#VotePirate - New idea for a new world

#BasicIncome - the right to choice

Important note.

The vicious attacks on the Al Noor and Linwood Mosques in Christchurch yesterday are 

wholeheartedly condemned by the Pirate Party Australia.

We send our heartfelt condolences to the victims and their families, and to the Muslim communities 

of Australia and New Zealand.

This atrocity will not go unanswered and the Pirate Party will continue to fight to remove far right 

extremists like Fraser Anning and Pauline Hanson from our Parliament.

Part 53 - The new Pirates of the 21st Century

A time to reflect.

Those of you who know, or know of me, know that I will be standing for the Australian Senate in 2019.

Why?

Because as I have become older my interests have changed and with it the reflection of my beliefs have changed as well.

Sounds a little pompous I know but it's true.

With age comes some security when your kids grow up, leave home and have their own lives.

What I found is that now I have more time to look around me as the day to day pressure of a younger age have gone and I am looking at the world differently.

I have always voted Liberal (right leaning in Australia) and looked on Labor (left) as something to be shunned.

In the 21st century though it's all changing.

I am a strong believer in government staying out of business as private industry can do it better and more efficiently but, and it's a big but, government has to be across what's happening and shape the society for the benefit of the people.

Confusing?

Not really.

Industry is there to make money, in most instances it's the beginning and end of the whole process. Unfortunately that's not always in the best interest of the society as a whole or for the individual.

For example, in Australia recently there has been a Banking Royal Commission into financial institutions and that has shown a blatant disregard for not only the consumer but for the law as well.

People have been systematically ripped off by companies who tell you everyday that they are there to help you.

That's just an example of how business can go wrong and most certainly does not apply to all businesses, there are ethical people in all industries.

So why is the 21st century going to change all this?

Businesses have to make money or they cease to be a business very quickly.

So the modern trend, forced by practically is to always look at ways of saving money to increase the bottom line. One way of doing this is to increase the automation of processes.

This is nothing new.

Henry ford use automation and introduced the production line early in the 20th century, and many auto factories today are nearly fully automated.
Computing in all industries have cut back staff and increased production in many areas, particularly in finance.

If your a little older you will remember queueing at the bank to take out money then driving around to various places to pay the bills.
Today we do all our banking and bill paying on the Internet and finding a bank branch (if you have a need to) is now difficult as many have closed.

Automation in industry is growing by the day, robotics and AI will increase production, reduce cost and employ less people to achieve these results than ever before and this trend is accelerating rapidly.

Not going to happen in my lifetime is something that many people believe but they are totally wrong.
I build robots at home for a hobby while working full time.

Automated cars are on the road now and will take over much quicker than you would think.
this in itself will change society further that you can image.

In my state of Western Australia , the road toll figures for last year show the lowest death toll for a year since records began. This all comes down to technology ranging from car safety, ABS, auto braking, adaptive cruise control, seat belts and not least, high tech traffic enforcement technology such as Radar and Lidar.

The point being that technology is an integral part of everyday life. If you don't believe me then try getting through a day without your mobile phone, tablet or Netflix.

So back to the political side of things.
We now have industry producing things faster, cheaper and with less wastage and better quality control, all done with less people.

See the irony here?
less people working means less disposable income and a smaller consumer base with a higher product output.

This is where it gets controversial.
In Australia we have unemployment benefits where people are paid an income while looking for work and have very strict processes in place to ensure that they do look for work to get them off benefits as soon as possible.

In the new age this all gets turned around and we need to look at things very differently.

In the not too distant future unemployment for many people will be the new normal and the stigma associated with it will have to disappear.

One answer is a form of Universal Basic Income  (UBI) where everyone has a guaranteed income regardless of their ability to look for work.

So this is where the old system of politics tends to break down.
We need to encourage industry to automate but we need to provide for people who are affected by it.

To do this we need to change the way that politicians think and get people into office that understand the new world and more importantly, are not afraid of adapting to change.

After all change will be the new constant.

So, this brings me back to the beginning where I am standing for the Australian Senate in 2019 for the Pirate Party Australia and to encourage the adoption of change and adapting our society to take advantage of the new potential that change brings with it.

After all history is all about adapt or die and we need to be ahead of change not playing catch up once it happens because we didn't take the time to think about it.

Like it or not we are on the cusp of the greatest change in human history and we must be prepared to adapt.

Adapt or Die, it's our choice.

@VoteCliveMyers'
#Votepirate
#BasicIncome

Part 52 - The new world

Consider me a dreamer.

I have reached the point in life where I want something, I go for it.

Now that my kids have left home and I have time to consider things I found that I wanted to actually contribute more to society than just being a part of it.

That's why I am going to stand for the Australian Senate in 2019.

As I have said before, many times, we are on the cusp of massive change in our society with the rise of automation and artificial intelligence. What that means is that many jobs that exist now won't exist in the future. And I mean the very near future.

Obviously this will mean that there are a lot of new jobs created but but not as many jobs will exist as time goes on.

That's where we have the conundrum.
Faster, cheaper and  more efficient manufacturing creating more product at a cheaper price.
With this production and a reduction in the required workforce who will buy the product if we have a shrinking level of employment?

That's where the system falls down as the current politicians can't or won't recognise this as an emerging reality.

We need a complete revamp of the way we think about unemployment and the way we treat unemployed people.

To do that we need to look at the whole welfare and taxation system in Australia and look at ways of improving this to cater for people who can't get work. We also need to have people in power who recognise that, understand technology and are prepared to do something about it before it turns around and bites us on the backside.

If we don't do something before it hits in a big way then we become the victim.
Lets use it to our advantage instead and get ahead of the game.

Universal basic income, or the right to have an income regardless of what you do has to become the new normal.

Revolutionary concept? so was the 40 (or 35) hour work week, women's votes and universal healthcare.
All of these were supposed to destroy the country/society/world but we are now richer in all ways because of them.

That's why we need to change the way we think and if the current politicians won't change (think coal mines) then we need to get people who will.

The choice is yours and in 2019 you have the opportunity to do something about it.

Think wisely before you vote. 

#Votepirate

@VoteCliveMyers

 

Part 51 - Bad Moon rising

May you live in interesting times.

This has been attributed to an ancient Chinese curse but like many things these days, you can't always rely on its provenance.

Regardless,  we are living in very interesting times, on the brink of the greatest change in human history to date.

Apart from the current social upheaval and nationalistic isolationism (whew, big words) we are also changing in technology like never before as we approach the fourth Industrial Revolution.

This is the age of automation and robotics.

A little far fetched I hear you say.

A few years ago I may have agreed with you but then I got a 3d Printer.....

Investigate the world of 3D printing and your worldview changes with it.

For example, I have had my 3D Printer (cost $400.00) for less than a year and while working full time as well as taking holidays and weekends away I have still managed to build this:

  

So this is something that I have built at home at no great cost in my spare time, just let that sink in.

Now consider that industry is doing this full time with huge budgets and massive resources.
Robotics, automated vehicles, factory automation and AI are here now and the trend is increasing dramatically.

So where does that leave us?

There are a couple of options,
Oppose it and slow down the uptake by forcing industry to use labour intensive techniques and prop it up with artificial barriers like tariffs.
At best a short term gambit as costs will increase and exports will be too expensive, particularly if your market imposes tariffs as well, which is happening now between the US and China.

Alternatively, and it's the only real option, embrace the change and make it work for you.
Adapt society to take advantage, before the technology adapts society in a way you don't want.

If we don't embrace the change then we will become victims of it.

Can we turn back the clock?

Some politicians think we can but how long for and how much damage will it do?

When's the last time you saw someone walking in front of a car waving a red flag as a warning.

Technology is not going away, we need to use it and accept it.
Resistance is futile.

So what happens to the people displaced by the technology?
Now is the time to change our society and include everyone, not just those with a job.

Universal basic income is a great first step.

Doing it through reverse taxation limits it to only those who need it and people who are out of work have a way forward to re-invent themselves with dignity.

Now is the time to change before it's forced on us.

I support a basic income and will be standing for the Australian Senate in 2019 to support this.

May we all live in interesting times.

#basicincome @voteclivemyers

P.S. here is a video that emphasises the point a little more:

Meanwhile on a lighter note I thought this was pretty funny.

Part 50 - The new world -

This week is the beginning of a new age,at  least for me.

I am a founding member of the Pirate Party here in Australia and I've finally taken the plunge having decided that I want to do something to shape the future of our country.

I have put my name forward to stand for the Australian Senate and have been nominated for pre-selection.
This is has now been voted by the membership and I am pleased to announce that I am the successful candidate and will be standing.

Now the hard work begins.

As readers of my blog well know, I am an strong advocate of automation and robotics.

However I am also very aware of the downside of this disruptive technology.

More and more people (particularly lower skilled workers) will be displaced in the workforce as this trend continues and I want our country to be in the forefront to act on this and not spending years playing catch up when it really starts to bite.

As a consequence I will be supporting a Universal Basic Income policy, where every Australian has the right to a guaranteed income with no strings attached which they can use as they wish.

The Pirate Party Australia already has a policy here that has a lot of really good practical ideas on  how to implement this and I would take that as a very good starting point to build on if elected.

So.... therefore I am standing for the senate.

Just a note on the effects of technology.
We recently took a trip to San Francisco and were absolutely appalled at the number of homeless people sleeping on the streets. Whole areas are basically full of homeless and for a first world country this is unbelievable and broke my heart to see it.
To be fair, it's not because of automation but is due to tech companies pushing up costs due to skilled workers getting high wages, but the effect is the same. Lower skilled people suffering because of it.

As we live in a wealthy country, now is the time to act before this happens here to the same extent, which it will if government doesn't take action before it's too late.

More news as it happens and please feel free to follow me on twitter @voteCliveMyers

Cheers

Part 48 - The long and winding road.

One of the greatest issues facing the world today is the shift by Donald Trump to protectionism.

His stated aim is to return jobs to the US as China has been "stealing" them and "ripping of America" for years.

What he doesn't see, or more likely won't admit to is the fact that these jobs were not stolen but given to China by people exactly like him.

For instance all his (now failed) clothing line were manufactured in China, Indonesia and other countries.
Why?
Because clothing made in the US was too expensive and can't compete.

Now he wants manufacturing (and jobs) to come back to the US.

The only way that can happen is for employees in the US to take lower wages than they get now which means that would be little more than state sanctioned economic slavery.
Alternatively manufacturers can automate and that means faster cheaper production but fewer jobs.

Therefore production can increase but employment (number of consumers with an income) decrease.

So what is the answer to this conundrum?

In countries that really want to address the actual problems and not just appeal to their limited supporter base are stating to seriously discuss the guaranteed universal income.

This is where everyone receives a state income that gives them basic economic security without having to work.

That means that they don't have to work two jobs to make a basic income or run around in circles to satisfy governments that they are actively looking for work.

This has been done successfully in other countries, yes, even in the US under Nixon, and is now resurfacing in many countries.

Even here in Australia it's gaining traction.

Personally I don't know if it will eventually work successfully, I think it will but we would be doing all people of the world a huge disservice if we don't discuss or test this in different societies and not just try to turn back the clock to a golden age that never actually existed for everyone.

Outside of the US it's possible that this will get a fair trial.

It's happening in Scotland, Finland, Canada, Netherlands and Barcelona. and probably others that I am not aware of.

So, its being discussed but what does it all mean to the recipients?

Does it mean you get to stay home and drink beer all day while watching TV?
Maybe for a few that would be true but consider someone who really wants to look after their family but spend so much time working flat out in one or maybe two jobs top stop their family from starving. This is a trap as they can't risk trying to improve themselves in case they lose the income they have but can barely survive on what they earn.

Give them a guaranteed income and that all changes. They now have time to up skill for a higher paid job or look for a better job without starving or maybe start a cottage industry.

The big thing is, for the first time with this scheme, there are now options.

Without the stigma of being on welfare or starving if you get sick peoples lives have already improved and the only way from there is up unless you choose to do nothing.

In that case society wears the cost and good luck to you.

With automation increasing in all industries everyday this is not really something that can be ignored and any country that does, does so at their peril.

Basically jobs are not coming back, not now, not ever so it has to be planned for as early as possible so it can be proved and implemented in a controlled fashion.

Failure is not an option.

Part 47 - no rhyme nor reason

So now it's Easter.

I have only blinked twice since Christmas.

Not a good time for the automated vehicle industry as there have been two fatalities with autonomous vehicles in the past couple of weeks.

Firstly an Uber hit a pedestrian wheeling a bike across  road and killed her.

Looking at the video it would be difficult to say if there would have been a different result had the car been driven manually but of course we won't have the full picture until all the reports are in but it will be interesting to get an official verdict.
Little consolation to the pedestrian and her family but road deaths have been happening since the invention of the wheel.

Tesla has lost a second driver when his car hit a barrier and killed the driver.
It has to be said that the collision shouldn't have happened and the result should have been less serious but the barrier had been hit previously and it had lost it's absorbsion quality which made it far worse than it should have been.

Again, speculation is only available at this point until investigations showthe real cause but it must be said that a Tesla is "driver assist" and not fully autonomous, a fact that Tesla is making the most of.

It would be interesting to see a static that compares the number of crashes involving Teslas again and equivalent number of other models to see if the crash rate due to automation is significantly lower, which I suspect would be the case.

Ford has announce the European version of the 2018 Ford Focus with many new driver assist features including:

• Cross traffic alert which wars of vehicles in front or behind which is great for backing out of a parking spot where you are between two 4 wheel drives and can't see a thing.
• Auto parking
• Lane keeping system
• Blind spot warning
• Sign reading cameras to warn of speed changes or dangers
• Adaptive lighting
• Auto breaking to 50 KMPH
• Distance warning for vehicles in front
• Tired driver warning

Considering that these features are all on a car not considered to be the high end of the market shows how far along this technology is and how quickly the tech is gaining traction.

This new Valencia factory, with automation turns out a new car every 40 seconds.

It will be interesting to see next years models.

Cheers

Part 46 - New news and little bit of a rant

New news on the autonomous front - as it keeps rolling on.

27th February 2018 is when California announced that fully autonomous test vehicles will be allowed on the road without a driver as of April 2nd.
As far as I am aware this is a world first and, barring massive mishaps, will be the first of many cities allowing this as they realise the advantages of being first to get this in place. 

An interesting fact about the above video is that the voice is computer generated. It sound pretty real but there are a few give a ways if you listen carefully.

Meanwhile Ford is beginning to test its autonomous vehicles in Miami as a prelude to automated delivery services which are being tested with Dominos pizza now.

Ford also wants to dominate in the automated control systems and is working on its cloud mobility system which allows cars to talk to infrastructure through an open source platform.
Something that this fledgling industry sorely needs for future growth.

Ford is aggressively pushing the autonomous line and has deep pockets so watch this space...

In an interesting but unrelated activity I, like most other people in the world have been watching the slow motion train wreck of gun violence in the US.
To get a more even view I look at many news sources including NYtimes CNN and Fox news as there are no impartial news outlets in the US that I can see, as everything is polarised along party lines.
Anyway, I digress.
I was looking at fox news and saw an article by an NRA and strong gun ownership supporter who reference the constant comparisons to Australia's successful gun laws.

His article tried to downplay the effects this has had in our country and, most unlike me, I couldn't keep my mouth shut.

I wrote comments about how there has not been a mass shooting in 22 years (since gun laws and buyback) and that the concept of a mass shooting in a school or anywhere else is not even remotely on anyone's radar.
In Australia, at this point at least, it's not an issue in any way shape or form.

Where the surprise came, as this was Fox news, was the number of positive comments and likes I received and no death threats.  Evidently most US citizens support gun laws but politicians don't.

I have done more online resarch and it appears most polls tend to confirm this.

Why don't US people vote on issues like this and vote them out?

Glad I live here where I don't have to worry about guns, we have enough problems.

Till next time.

   

Part 45 - per ardua ad astra

Through adversity to the stars.

Never in the field of human endeavour has something so stupid yet at the same time totally appropriate been contemplated and then actually achieved.

I refer of course to a Tesla now heading out into space with a dummy in the drivers seat in a space suit, looking really cool with his arm on the windows, just cruisin'.
This is a live feed.

Love the Hitchikers reference on the display...
(semi)Automated vehicle in space, another first.

When you think about it though the number of technological achievements that made this happen are staggering.
1. The heaviest payload ever achieved to space
2. Recovered booster rockets (well nearly all).
3. Fully autonomous ship to land the booster on.
4. The sheer pathos of the payload and the totally appropriate soundtrack that goes with the videos will make Bowie live forever.

This whole thing just makes me tingle.

And as a bonus the flat earthers have to come up with a new theory or more likely will just brand it all as a fake because they can't disprove it. Oh well it takes all types.

When the Tesla eventually goes into a parking orbit I wonder how long it will be before someone finds a way of give it a ticket?

Anyway, back on our world.

I have been fortunate in my job to have been involved in basic testing of a Teleprescence robot that allows sick kids at home or in hospital to interact with their friends in class without leaving their home or even their bed. This is a project by a group in Australia called Missing school.
This is the actual Omnilabs ad for the device.

This is something that could see a lot of use in schools in the near future and a number of  Australian schools are currently trialing it.

It's great because the kids who are confined can still participate in the class and interact which can give them more meaning to their lives and an interest while still learning.

Back in my world I'm progressing with my build of the Inmoov robot and have completed the forearm and hand and am now printing every night to get all the plastics ready for when my servos arrive from the US. 

This is where I'm at:

The software makes it much easier (Myrobotlabs) than trying to write your own, believe me I've tried (and failed).

I grew up in an era with no TV and now look at what you can do at home.

Never would have thunk it.

Part 44 - I think, therefore am I?

The Ehang 184 which I have discussed right back in my first blog entry, is now carrying people in China as part of it's advanced testing and expects to have a commercial version of this available this year.
From the video it looks like they now have a two seat version as well.

 There appears to be a bit of a war to decide if Uber or Waymo is going to be the leaders in automotive technology and it has gone to court. Industrial espionage and all the juicy ingredients make this a battle to watch.

Meanwhile, back in Oz........

Robotics is a funny old thing.
By that I man it is mostly about perception.

If a robot looks and sounds human then may people think that this is an advanced intelligence that thinks for itself.

Not necessarily so.

I remember writing a program many years ago in basic.
What it did was take any input and turn it back into a question. I called it "Shrink".

I had it ask "what would you like to talk about"?
I then rephrased the input and elicited a response.
I had a list of keywords. If the response didn't have a keyword I would ask "Can you expand on that a little bit?"
This gave the impression that the program was listening and quite often the expansion would elicit a keyword that could get a response.

It wasn't listening as such, but psychiatry works on asking the right questions and having the subject follow their own path and come to their own resolution.
This program did just that.

It wasn't smart but sounded like it was even though it was as dumb as a brick.
It's all about perception.

AI is not sentient, it's just getting a machine to learn.

The dangerous part of that is having a machine make it's own decisions and allowing it to act on it without any control.

For instance, if you had a computer with the power to control every aspect of your environment with total autonomy and then introduced the ability to control your health, then you could have an issue.

For instance you could say " Computer, wipe out cancer in all humans".

Great!.

Maybe not. This is a machine that works on logic not a human with the sum of knowledge accumulated by years of growing and learning without being able to cause a lot of harm.
You have a machine that has total control, "Wipe out cancer"? sure. The logical way is eliminate all humans and the problem is solved!

Not the optimal result from our perspective but an elegant solution nevertheless.
There is no malice in this action and no intelligent response either. Just a machine response.

Coming back to robotics. If you build a robot it is a machine, just like a toaster and just as smart.
But perhaps with the ability to learn. That learning will be a logical response not a human one.

If you have software that controls it then it is just process control with no real smarts and no real danger, unless you let it be dangerous.

A car is a machine with no danger to anyone when it's sitting still. Once you start it and drive off then it has the potential to kill. Humans kill many people every year with cars either accidentally or intentionally and hopefully robotic vehicles will put an end to much of that.

But only if it is intelligently implemented.

Imagine the situation where you have a totalitarian government and they have control of all autonomous vehicles. Dissident? not anymore. Oops sorry his car malfunctioned and drove off a cliff.
My bad, we'll fix the software.

Anyway, back to the humanoid robot.

No matter how human it looks it's still a machine, just like a car and just as safe or dangerous as the controls around it.


I have now built a robotic arm as the first stage of the Imoov project (inmoov.fr) and downloaded the software to make it work using the preconfigured myrobotlab.

It looked really cool when installing, looked like a hacker sequence from a movie with the green text rolling down the screen for ages.

Once I got it installed I found that it is actually voice activated.
I then tried to respond when it asked my name and tried for some time to get it understand that my name was Clive, not hi or hello or any other variant except my name. I even had my wife try and she had no better result.

I then remembered when I worked in Taiwan at one stage no one could understand my Australian accent so I had to put on an American one and then people knew what I was saying.... Such is life.

I tried it on the computer as Cliiiive with the best American accent I could muster and, wouldn't you know it, got it right first time.

So OK..

Being voice activated I thought I would jump right in and after setting a few things up I said to it "close hand". It responded "closing my hand" and lo and behold it did. Cool.
Not to be outdone I said "open hand" and it dutifully did.

Oh the power....

I commented to my wife, "this is quite sophisticated stuff" and to my surprise the computer responded with "Thank you. I try."

So this is my entry into robotic software control. Years in advance of the basic programs I wrote with my first robot arm version only a couple of months ago. No longer will I try and re-create the wheel as this stuff is light years ahead of anything I could do.

So now, my programming skills shown as woefully inadequate, I will push on with the build and play with real software to get a better understanding and keep you posted as it happens.
And have fun in the process.

Who said getting old has to be boring...

Cheers

Part 43 - Thus Spoke Zarathustra

The new year looks like it could be the time of the big step forward in the world of autonomous vehicles.

General Motors lat week petition the US government to allow them to build and use automated vehicles on the road without a steering wheel or pedals with the aim of mass producing these in 2019.

Lets just sit back and think about that for a minute as the concept is staggering.

2019 could see totally autonomous mass produced vehicles on the road.

Read that line again.

2019 could see totally autonomous mass produced vehicles on the road.

This gets rid of one of the worst aspects of the current technology where level 3 automation requires a driver to take over at a moments notice when it can't handle something.

That's all well and good if the driver is wide awake and alert and watching the road but what happens when the driver relies on this because it works so well for long periods of time - then suddenly it doesn't.

Tesla is well aware of that with its famous collision with a truck at high speed with the driver reportedly using the vehicle as fully autonomous.

GM has long stated that it wants to go directly to level 4 automation where the car can take action on its own when in uncertain circumstances such as slowing down or pulling over therefore avoiding this potential lethal situation with level 3 control.

So lets see where this going because it means that driverless cars (in every aspect of the name ) could be on the road far sooner than currently expected.

Another aspect of that is the thinking that automation needs a lot more testing before releasing into the real world but drivers are so bad (and I count myself in that if I am being honest) that even non perfect automation will produce less deaths that human drivers so the sooner the better.

 Seeing automated vehicles on the road is a rarity in most place but in Phoenix Arizona it is a common sight. Primarily because of the physical characteristics of the place where it is hot and dry most of the time with no snow, little rain and wide pot hole free roads which makes it ideal for testing in near perfect conditions but not so well if you want to sort out problems as they arise but you can't have everything.

Meanwhile, back in my world I am rapidly moving on with 3D printing as in my previous blog.
I build the Digital sundial which ended up a 40 hour print and I hoped that the power held up as there was a storm coming in and I was terrified of a power failure as the printer can't recover from a power loss. Fortunately it didn't happen and I had a successful run and the digital sundial works very well.

Buoyed by this success I embarked on the next big print and started on the hand for my new robot arm. This was a 15 hour print and ran very smoothly - for 14 and a 1/2 hours.

They were right, it doesn't recover from a power fail, even a 2 second flicker.

AAAAAARRRGH

My 3D printer now has a UPS connected to it.....

Who said you don't learn from experience!

This coming weekend I will reprint it and start to construct the hand and arm.
I have now received the parts I was waiting for and should get the dancing robot (Otto) working as well.

Something to look forward too and I will will post developments as they occur.

Cheers

Part 42 - It's life Jim but not as we know it.

2018 has  arrived.

Happy new year and all that.

To me these date numbers are well into science fiction territory as I never actually expected to get to this stage but that's another story.

Now that I'm here I am so grateful as we are (as I have said so many times before) on this massive cusp of change and I love change.

Now that the new year is here it brings on the first of the new season motor shows and the Singapore show is currently open and announcements are trickling out as it goes on.

Audi has announced the first full production car with the Audi 8 L (dubbed the AI) that has level 3 automation.
Level 3 automation is basically full automation (but not fully functional for all situations) and requires a driver to take control when it finds a situation it can't handle.

This is a  great leap forward but brings back the problem of complacency.

A driver who uses this can become so used to it in automated mode that they forget that the car can't yet do it all yet and they aren't prepared to take control fast enough in an emergency situation.

As happened with Tesla it is likely that deaths will occur, just because people are people.

Level 4 hopefully is not far away where the car can pull over and stop when no human intervention occurs when requested.

Having said all that this is pretty remarkable that that level of sophistication is now available in a production vehicles.

Meanwhile Nividia has announced a new "supercomputer on a chip" which they hope will become the standard for automated vehicles.

"Nvidia says its invention of “the world’s first autonomous machine processor” is in the final stages of development and will be production ready by the end of the year."

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is becoming more automated car these days and there is an interesting article here about cars of the future.

Meanwhile, on a more personal level I am progressing in my robotics development in leaps and bounds since the acquisition of a 3D printer. To say it has changed my life would be an understatement and my wife may (is) regretting buying this for me.

To give you an example I was pretty happy with my development of a robotic arm which I designed and built parts for using my home made CNC machine.

But it has been rapidly superceded with this:

Which rapidly became this:

Now the bug has bitten and I have embarked on this incredible thing.

What really blows me away is the fact that I can build this at home at an affordable price thanks to ordering parts from China and building the plastics on my own 3D printer.

Since Christmas (given that its January the 12th now) I am building things that I had hoped to have the capability of doing maybe five years down the track.

Isn't technology great?

Having said that and being enthused about all things tech I will guarantee that some people will look at the above video and think fearful thoughts about this level of robotics.

Bear in mind that a car, TV or washing machine is just that, a machine.
Just because it looks vaguely like a human does mean that it has human characteristics, it's still a machine.

AI now is a totally different ball game as you can let it make its own decisions based on what it has learned and that's a game changer in anyone's book and a subject for another discussion.

Today is Friday. (TGIF)

Tonight I am going to print a 3D sundial just because I can.

This is an extreme example of either the pinnacle of technology or an example of someone with far too much time on their hands, you choose but it really is super cool.

'Till next time.

Part 41 - On the road again.

I am finding it increasingly difficult to find things to write about autonomous vehicles.
It is now sort of sneaking up on us without the big fanfare we used to have and will slowly pervade every corner of our society.

When you boil it down however it all comes back to computers and these days more specifically, robotics.

A robot can be defined as "a machine capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically, especially one programmable by a computer."

So then you have a very wide range of devices that can be considered robots ranging from a washing machine that goes through a whole cycle of operations to an automated vehicle or robotic receptionist.

All of these are in use today.

As I have said before, sometimes technology just blows me way.

I am sitting in my study now at 10:55 am, December 30th 2017.

On my left is my new 3D printer working away on parts for a robot hand that I am building as the first part of a humanoid robot.

To my right I have a computer rebuilding its operating system as an upgrade to my home made CNC machine.  

I am typing this on a laptop and my wife is in another room with her laptop connected to her Silhouette cutter which is basically a CNC machine with a blade for cutting paper and card.
Her hobby is card making.

All the while we are listening to Spotify which is streaming directly from the stereo.

In TV land we use Netfix, Iview or  or watch TV programs that may or may not have been downloaded by someone else.

Nerds Much?

We are both in our mid sixties (25 in my head but the mirror lies) and I have worked in technology all of my working life even running my own IT support company for several years.
I have worked in telephony, television and computer support including mainframes.

So I suppose I have to admit to being a nerd.

But damn, it's so interesting and at the cusp of change that makes every new day exciting.

All I need now is a new drug that can make me physically young again and I can start a new career.

Meanwhile I will carry on using other peoples work to build things of interest as I don't have the time to develop my own as much as I would like to.

Things I have made with the new printer since Christmas.

Still waiting for some electronics but the body is looking good (Just like me really). 

Hard to believe that it's nearly 2018, science fiction territory.

Hopefully there may even be a 2019 if Trump keeps his tiny hands off the launch button.

Here's hoping and have a great new year!