Sometimes we get so focused on what's going on at Control and ControlGlobal.com that we forget there's other stuff happening in the Big World.
For example, the first color pix from Mars. I find it disconcerting that robots can take better pictures than I can. Just sayin'.
And then there's this news out of Iran. Seems the Iranian solution to Stuxnet, Flame and its sisters and cousins and aunts is to pull everything off the Internet. It's true that it's really hard to catch a cyber infection if you're not hooked up to the Internet, but I'm not sure it's a 100% fix. And this solution has a ring of familiarity to it. Aren't there a lot of operations stateside still arguing that the only way to stay safe is to not be hooked up at all? But in the end, how well does it work? And aren't you cutting off your nose to spite your face, so to speak? Maybe we need Joe Weiss of Unfettered to weigh in here.
Over at our sister publication, Plant Services, the new senior technical editor, Stanton McGroarty, has defined the new plant maintenance machismo. No six-pack abs, taste for super-fast cars, state-of-the-art weapons, or 20-year-old tequila required. Just some hard-nosed common sense and a commitment to excellence.
Finally, we're all big fans of STEM, First Robotics and Lego League here for getting the little 'uns interested in making things, but there are some hazards involved--probably not all of which you have thought of.
