Gizmodo Punks CES - Reaction Mixed

In this post, Gizmodo comes clean on pranking CES and provide a video as proof. Apparently armed with a TV-B-Gone remote control device, they ran amok turning screens off through out the show. The really interesting thing is the reaction they received in the comments to their post. I'm along with the group who laughed a bit but think they crossed the line in messing with the Motorola presentation. I'm constantly telling my children that a joke is only funny the first time or two, and gets really annoying after that. Interfering with someones presentation is, in my mind, taking things too far! We used to have a saying when I worked in the mining industry... "don't mess with any one's paycheck or their lunch" and in this case some body's paycheck could very well be on the line. To quote SNEAKY from the comments "Have fun getting press passes to another trade show."

Self Driving Cars In 10 Years - CES Attendees Hear

The CBC is reporting that GM CEO, Rick Wagoner, in the last keynote address at the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show made some big predictions for the not so distant future. "It is critical to our business destiny and our obligation to society to develop alternative means of propulsion to meet the world's demands for our products, which is growing at a very rapid pace." said Wagner. According to the report "GM's OnStar in-vehicle communications and monitoring system will soon introduce applications that can be activated over a cellphone. In the "very short term," subscribers to the service will be able to unlock or even start their vehicles remotely with their mobile device." In addition, Chris Urmson, Carnegie Mellon's man behind "Boss" the DARPA Urban Challenge winner said "we expect a fully autonomous, self-driving car to be on the road in the next decade."

I expect that this prediction is fairly safe. Ten years ago I read of a semi autonomous vehicle that drove across country and managed nearly, I believe, 90% of the driving. With the success of "Boss" and other contestants in the completely autonomous DARPA driving challenge, it stands to reason that another decade will mean enough advances to bring the technology to the masses... think I'll call Johnny Cab!

CES 2008 Best of Show Contenders

CNET runs down their top 30 picks for the "Best of CES" award at the Computer Electronics Show (CES). Check out the Belkin FlyWire,Alienware curved display, and Bug Labs Platform!