It was a little more than 10 years ago when the movie Minority Report illustrated the movement of visual data with hand gestures. It was considered at that time to be science fiction. But, it was less than three years ago that Microsoft showed off the Kinect for XBox 360. And 1 year ago MIT shared its multi-colored glove that was followed by a computer using an algorithm and data base to replicate movement. But the change became more rapid when Adafruit Industries offered a monetary prize for the best  Kinect hack. (Hack is used in this context as the technique used to re purpose something for another use). The results over the last year have been remarkable in the uses being developed for the Kinect.
At first, Microsoft wanted to stop the re-purposing of their hardware and software, but soon realized that it was good for Microsoft.  They have since offered a development kit for just such a use. And the new uses for Kinect have become exponential! So what is the trend amidst all of this activity? I believe that it will not take long for gesture technology to be standard with the purchase of a new laptop computer. It may have more than one webcam and perhaps a laser tracker, but it will be gesture sensitive. And, while moving around pieces and pictures on the screen will be commonplace, it will take a lot longer to parse out fine detail, such as words in a document. But, that too will come to pass.
For an opening window to what the Kinect can do, Hack A Day has 47 hacks and counting. Here. There are also several sites to search with just the words Kinect hacks. And as we all know, some gestures are better than others...

This post is quite different from my usual and departs from the totally original material typically presented. This is due to the fact that sometimes I find something really interesting and want  to share it with my readers.
The idea of mechanical computers has been around for a long time. For example, in 1822 Charles Babbage designed the difference engine to make mathematical computations with gears, shafts, and other mechanical parts. The relationship of moving mechanics to solve math problems seems reasonable and even a good idea. But, finding a really good depiction of how it can be done and more importantly how it can be used in the real world is harder to find.
The problem the Navy was illustrating here is the complex task of firing a big gun from a battleship at a moving target when both are moving. There is not only lateral movement, but also pitch and yaw. Not an easy problem at all!
In this film, not a video, they break down the shaft, gear, cam, cam followers, and associated configurations such as the rack and pinion to show how a mechanical computer works. They show how the movement of mechanics relate to the mathematical translations in a very effective way. The graphics are clear and sharp with really good explanations. It is 45 minutes long but worth every minute of the time spent viewing.
I guess that anyone who was forecasting trends in 1953 would have seen the coming of the electronic computers as the transistor was then being fully developed. But for the time, this film is excellent. Enjoy and comment... USNAVY.

It is all over the web this week that Heathkit will be returning to selling electronic kits under it relatively new name, Heathkit Educational Systems. I thought it a good time for a history lesson for those who have no knowledge of what Heathkit was or is now.
In 1947 Heathkit began selling it first kit, a basic oscilloscope for $50. It came with all parts, a manual in English that was a complete assembly plan, step by step instructions, and a theory of operation. It was considerably less expensive than what was available, but it was a basic O-scope. But this opened the door for many electronic kits over the next 40 years. Audio amps, ham radios, test equipment, computers, and even a robot, (Hero 1). I have built many Heathkit products and was part of the assembly of the Hero robot. It cost about $1ooo in the late 80's, and was an extremely complex build with some 20 printed circuit boards. But, the value when finished was much more, as complete robots were in the $2,500 range.
But I believe that the value was not always in the cost savings but in the educational aspect of the kits. Two generations of builders learned "how to" from what was considered the best manuals in the industry. There were competitors like Allied Radio, Lafayette, and even Radio Shack, but they never matched Heath. With the advent of double sided PC boards,  surface mount components, and the electronics coming from abroad, Heathkit went out of the kit business in 1992.
And, with the  respect that I have for the Heathkit name, I believe that the trend is not toward the kit model. I suspect that there will be partially assembled and fully assembled parts to put together into a functioning device. But, the excitement of building from scratch and checking off the step by step assembly is nearing and end. But, it is nice to see the desire to return...

With the recent announcement that the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) has recalled 36 million pounds of ground turkey due to Salmonella contamination is far more routine than it should be. It seems that about every two or three months we have contaminated, meat, spinach and lettuce, or other commonly eaten food. 50 million people get food poisoning each year in the US and much of it is due to Salmonella. The FSIS (Food Safety and Inspection Service) is the division that oversees the safety of our food. They continue to say that they are short-staffed and underfunded. This is not a new comment, as the same result occurs every time that we have a threat of illness. And, in their defense, they cannot possibly test all samples of all food sold in the US. It is statistically an impossibility.
It seems to me to be a matter of corporate responsibility as well as  government regulation and enforcement. In this case Cargill, the turkey supplier should have caught this before it left the company for distribution. There will be an investigation, maybe a fine, and that will be it until the next time. But, we as consumers have a responsibility as well. When we buy from local farm stands and markets, we need to ask if they use pesticides, insecticides, and fertilizer type. Are they certified organic? And most of all we need to wash vegetables thoroughly and cook local meat products completely. Remember that these local stands, as important as they are, are not regulated at all.
So what is the trend? It will become more prevalent to see Salmonella as more countries in the temperate zones compete for the American market. After all, they know that we are overfed and throw away more than 25% of our food...