Bizzy’s AM Coffee Biz-Econ-Life Links (071406)
Free Links:
- A significant improvement in brain-computer interaction that amounts to assisted psychokinesis (HT Drudge) –
A man paralysed from the neck down has shown he can open email, control a TV and move objects with a robotic arm by thought alone.
The 25-year-old American patient, Matthew Nagle, had a computer-linked implant placed in his brain that enabled him to operate devices just by thinking about it.
Brain-computer interfaces have been demonstrated before, in humans and animals. But this is the biggest step taken so far towards developing “bionic” systems that can restore motor function in people who have lost control of their limbs.
- The $14.6 billion Big Dig project tunnel where a woman driver died when she was crushed by falling 3-ton tiles is being closed. The problems that caused the woman’s death appear to be present elsewhere in the tunnel. Unstated in the article is that
Boston traffictraffic for people who had been using the Williams Tunnel (thanks to commenter Kevin for the correction) will be a nightmare for quite a while. Jay Tea at Wizbang has a lot more detail on this 80% federally-funded nightmare. - What the …..? — The third paragraph in this New York Times piece about Wal-Mart’s policy on treatment of shoplifters reads thusly (bold is mine):
According to internal documents, the company, the nation’s largest retailer and leading destination for shoplifting, will no longer prosecute first-time thieves unless they are between 18 and 65 and steal merchandise worth at least $25, putting the chain in line with the policies of many other retailers.
The breezy assumption that Wal-Mart is the number one, uh, target, for shoplifting is dubious at best given its past zero-tolerance policies. The words were unnecessary and are unsupported, at least in the article. Given the store’s track record of going after shoplifters, I have to think that the crooks would prefer to go after the goods at other stores.
Apparently some police departments are happy because they won’t be responding to as many calls from Wal-Mart stores about what the cops apparently see as trivial offenses.
A related Reuters story at USA Today’s web site says that “The National Retail Federation, the largest retail trade group in the USA, estimates that retailers lost about $34 billion in 2005 due to organized retail theft.”
- The Eurotunnel, which operates the Channel Tunnel link between Britain and France, has filed for bankruptcy. What you might think would be a can’t-miss business has debts of $11 billion.
- In the UK, 63% of phones returned as “broken” have nothing wrong with them (HT Techdirt, which thinks it’s because they’re too complicated and have inadequate instructions and guidance). I also am surprised at the frequent employment of what I thought was a rarely used meaning of the word “punter” in the Register’s article.
- Sarbanes Oxley is spreading into areas beyond the corporate realm like an infectious disease — What in the world is the point of having charities triple their audit fees, as has occurred at publicly-traded companies?
Only one section of the tunnel is closed, the interchange between I-90 and I-93. The only problem is airport traffic. The Williams tunnel is not in use. The streets really aren’t that bad. If you have been paying attention to the news, you should be fine. If you are a jackass and get stuck in traffic, you need to move out from underneath the rocks.
Comment by Kevin Irwin — July 14, 2006 @ 8:46 am
I have a friend that works at Walmart in Lewisburg, WV. Two months ago he told me that his Walmart store was going to stop approaching ANY shoplifter. They are not to stop or approach shoplifters. He was commenting upon how much more theft they were going to have once the policy became publicly known.
Comment by mike — July 14, 2006 @ 9:17 am
#1, I changed the language in the post. Thanks for the clarification. On the assumption that there are more tunnels than the Williams that were built in the Dig, I have to wonder how long it will be before other sections of other tunnel(s) are questioned.
Comment by TBlumer — July 14, 2006 @ 10:27 am
#2, I don’t understand who Wal-Mart thinks they are pleasing with the new policy, unless they think that the detectors you pass through when you leave the store are somehow going to catch everyone anyway.
Comment by TBlumer — July 14, 2006 @ 10:30 am
This section of the tunnel (for whatever reason) was constructed differently from the central artery tunnel itself. The Williams tunnel connects Logan to the South Boston waterfront and to I-90. The billion year old Callahan and Sumner tunnels connect Boston proper to Logan. The central artery or “Big Dig” tunnel is still operating. I am not sure if the scope of the inspection is to include it, as I mentioned earlier, it was constructed differently
Comment by Kevin Irwin — July 14, 2006 @ 10:58 am
#5, OK, now I think I have it right. Thanks for the background.
You’ve got to wonder how the engineers were so smart a billion years ago to build tunnels that from what I understand have never had structural problems.
Comment by TBlumer — July 14, 2006 @ 4:07 pm
My assumption is that back in those days, project engineers and construction companies did not use subpar materials and cut corners to meet dates.
Comment by Kevin Irwin — July 14, 2006 @ 7:07 pm
#7, point taken, but graft and corner-cutting aren’t new. It’s why Cincinnati has a 4-mile subway that was never done and was abandoned around WW1.
I don’t know enough about inspecition to opine, but it seems at a cursory glance to have been less than perfect.
Comment by TBlumer — July 14, 2006 @ 7:14 pm