Friday p.m. Gathering of the Links

Oct. 26, 2012

Been a busy week here in ControlGlobal land.

Been a busy week here in ControlGlobal land. What with getting the November print issue out the door, preparing for the Yokogawa user conference next week, starting work on the December issue, prepping for Putman's annual Halloween chili cook-off, carving pumpkins, ignoring political robo calls and other business, we almost didn't have time to pull together important links you might have missed. But, as with most of our other deadlines, somehow, we got ‘er done. Here, not necessarily in their order of seriousness and/or importance are some links you should check out.

First, and this one is important AND serious, from our Irish colleague Eoin Ó Riain of the Readout Signpost newsletter.  This is the apparently all-inclusive link dump of Stuxnet and its sisters and cousins and aunts.  If you want to follow as this story has unfolded, here's the place to start.

Now on to the subject of robots. Not quite process automation, but it's getting harder and harder to escape these buggers. So if you're really into robots and would like a crack at at $2-millon prize, go here.  DARPA's got one on offer.  And on a somewhat lighter note, there are the robots who covert people's dreams into paintings. Strange. And who can resist tight-rope walking robots?

In other Gee-Whiz technical news, here's what Uncle Google is up to now-photo-mapping the Grand Canyon.

If you have any cool ideas in the back of your head about techniques for reusing water, now would be a good time to start making them a reality. The tide of public opinion is with you. According to our buddies at SustainablePlant.com 2/3rds of Americans support some kinds of water reuse.

If, in spite of all this news about technical advancements, you have the feeling nobody's working on the really big ideas anymore, in our weekly Big Serious Thought-Provoking Read, here's "Why We Can't Solve Big Problems." from the MIT Technology Review.

Finally, in our pre Halloween public service announcement, here's the coolest costume evah! Note: If you haven't started replicating this yet, it's probably too late in the game for this year.