Todas as Olimpíadas prometem ser o evento mais seguro do mundo. Na China não vai ser diferente. O governo investiu pesado em equipamentos para a polícia e exército. A foto desse batalhão de segways mostra que a tropa de elite deles está preparada para chegar rápido, imobilizar e usar a força bruta somente como último recurso. Ainda temos tempo até a Copa do Mundo de 2014 para ensinar a polícia do Rio a ser assim?

Atualizando: Fotos da simulação contra ataques químicos e biológicos na cidade de Hong Kong.

El Segway, es el primer aparato de transporte impulsado eléctricamente que mantiene su propio equilibrio. Con unas dimensiones inferiores al tamaño promedio de un cuerpo adulto y la habilidad de imitar el equilibrio humano, el Segway usa el mismo espacio que un peatón y puede ir a cualquier sitio por donde una persona puede andar. El Segway le permite a la gente en casa y en el trabajo el ir más lejos, y moverse más rápido por los sitios por donde anda normalmente.

Hoy, os presentamos el que fuera el primer prototipo del SEGWAY o lo que es lo mismo la primera "Beta" SEGWAY.

para saber mas :

10 grandes inventos de ficcion

Robots estilo retro Chatarra vintage

Despertador retro, para el Ipot

Video from failblog.org

Ok, this is an interesting one. Kevin Hey and a bunch of other guys now offer tours that allow you to explore New Zealand's cities on a Segway. You remember the Segway Personal Transporter? Those contraptions that allow you to stand on them and move about on wheels.

Looks like Segways are catching on in Tourism. I came across a video that show Beach Resorts in Turkey using them (see the video on top). A friend of mine in the travel business in Goa tells me that a couple of resorts there are thinking of getting a few here too.

On my recent visit to Dubai, I happened to glimpse a chap tearing across a boulevard near my hotel on a segway, a sight which rang all the right bells in me. I would certainly like to have one, although driving one around in any Indian city is asking for serious trouble. In Bangalore, I will most likely disappear down a man-hole never to be heard of again. I can think of at least 3 people who would like that.  :)

DSC00565 - burning man 2007 - Kid on Segway

Originally uploaded by loupiote (Old Skool)

Segway is in the spotlight recently in Japan.
The Segway is used in the golf course and Theme Park.
I hear that the Segway will be used by guarding the airport, the police, and the retail store in foreign countries.

However, why is the Segway popular in the golf course?
Because the Segway can run not to damage turf in the golf course.
It was necessary to pass the cart course the current having gotten in a cart.
However, if it is a Segway, it can approach the golf ball by the beeline.

The Segway might become more popular being backed up to the crude oil sudden rise and ecology.
However, it is not possible to run in Japan in the public thoroughfare by the restriction of the Road Traffic Law.
How if it tries to ride the Segway in the golf course and Theme Park?

Краткое описание. Что такое "самокат" Segway и почему я ставлю его в кавычки? Так уж повелось, что слово самокат отнюдь не означает что-то, что катится само. Самокат Segway, напротив, везёт тебя, а не наоборот. Вот так это двухколёсное _чудо_ выглядит:

Краткие ТТХ изделия. Работает на аккумуляторах.  Скорость до 20 км/час, расстояние без подзарядки до 38 км.
Производитель позиционирует продукт, как транспортное средство нового поколения и за ним, типа, будущее. Особо при этом отмечая, что это самое безопасное средство передвижения, во что с первого раза трудно поверить, учитывая двухколёсность. Тем не менее, это правда - равновесие на нём держать несложно. Хотя некий индивидуум по имени Джордж Буш младший, которому дали покататься на этом самокате (видимо пытаясь всем показать, что даже полный имбецил может им пользоваться) умудрился с него упасть.
Так вот. В демонстрационном зале всем желающим дали возможность прокатиться на самокате по специально построенной (довольно небольшой) трассе, состоящей из ровной дорожки с поворотами, небольших возвышений и "пересечённой местности", представляющей из себя неровную поверхность из всяких булыжников. Предварительно был проведён подробный инструктаж, чтобы не дай бог, никто из посетителей не повторил судьбу Дж. Буша.
Ощущения остались двоякие. С одной стороны, конечно, прикольный самокатик, но продавать его собираются по 6 тысяч у.е. за штуку + налог с продаж, что, естественно, делает его абсолютно непривлекательным, ибо за такие деньги вполне можно купить машину. Да, бензин сейчас сильно подорожал, но и электричество у нас тоже недешёвое.
Так же сложно себе представить, куда на нём можно ездить и где, например, парковаться так, чтобы не спёрли. Единственное реальное применение - это взамен машинок на гольф-кортах, но играющие в гольф, как правило, являются людьми обеспеченными и могут себе позволить и более комфортабельные традиционные четырёхколёсные машинки.
Так что пока что я вижу только одно применение этому самокату - ездить на нём исключительно из-за понтов. К слову, ни одного такого самоката на улицах я ещё не видел, так что, видимо, такие понты местных не особо привлекают :-)
Ну, и в заключение "картинка с выставки"

Si hace algunos meses hablamos de los tours con segways, ahora presentamos una nueva manera de visitar una ciudad turística. Se trata de los Go Cars.

Un Go Car es un híbrido entre una scooter y un coche con tres ruedas. Este biplaza tiene incorporado un GPS con un mapa de localización, para que el visitante pueda moverse sin la menor dificultad por la ciudad, y una guía que va ofreciendo información histórica y actualizada sobre los principales atractivos turísticos (en el idioma escogido, por supuesto).

El sistema de conducción es sumamente fácil, ya que funciona como una motocicleta de 40cc. La velocidad máxima a la que pueden acceder es 45km/h. Pesan un 170kg y tienen un pequeño maletero para la comodidad de los usuarios. Eso sí, la edad mínima para su alquiler son los 21 años.

Con el Go Car el visitante dispone de plena autonomía para diseñar su propio recorrido y para determinar el tiempo que va a destinar a la visita, además de deleitarse con las explicaciones que ofrece  el audio del GPS.

Esta nueva modalidad de transporte turístico urbano ha aparecido con fuerza en algunas grandes ciudades como San Francisco, Miami, San Diego y Lisboa. También en Barcelona ya son parte del mobiliario urbano más habitual.  

En definitiva, un nueva alternativa a las bicicletas, los tándems, los carruajes, los trenes turísticos, los taxi-huevos, los segways... y los que tenga que venir.

Doug Field, CTO di Segway, è uno degli artefici più importanti della riuscita tecnologia e di funzionamento del rivoluzionario veicolo elettrico, in grado di mantenere l'equilibrio nonostante le sole due ruote parallele.

Così, dopo anni di duro e grande lavoro per Segway, Doug Field assume la carica di vice-presidente del design dei prodotti in Apple.

"Imagination is more important than knowledge..." -- Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955)

"To know is nothing at all; to imagine is everything." -- Anatole France (1844 - 1924)

[Here's a quick side trip to poke a little fun at my friends who are engaged in politics. ;) ] There are also those skilled at inventing or discovering problems. I'm sure it is mere coincidence that these same people just happen to have a solution for these terrible problems the rest of us knew nothing about. (Is there an emoticon for sarcasm?)

"We may not imagine how our lives could be more frustrating and complex--but Congress can." -- Cullen Hightower

"Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it whether it exists or not, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedy." -- Ernest Benn

Imagination produces ideas, the seeds of change. Granted not all change is necessary or good. That’s why we have the editorial page and the marketplace – to help separate the good ideas from the bad ones. I wonder how much greater America could become if idle imaginations were turned up a notch or two.

"Our imagination is the only limit to what we can hope to have in the future." -- Charles F. Kettering

The rising cost of oil is a challenge as well as an opportunity perfectly suited for our imaginations. While some are whining and demanding government action, others are busy solving the problem for themselves by driving less or changing to a more efficient vehicle. Then, there are the imaginative folks who are working behind the scenes to solve the problem for many.

"Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine and at last you create what you will." -- George Bernard Shaw

What will the result be? Innovation! I'm sure we've heard rumors about engines that use water for fuel and cars that run 100 miles on a gallon of gas. This so-called "oil crisis" is an opportunity to develop a more efficient car and/or alternative fuel.

Some accuse oil companies of profiting unfairly from the high gas prices. If this is true, there’s another opportunity – buy oil stocks.

What about alternative forms of transportation like mass transit, motorcycles, bicycles, walking, and that two-wheeled, electric, gyroscope-controlled device made by Segway? For those who see and hear with their imaginations, there is no end to the opportunities.

"You cannot depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus." -- Mark Twain, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court

Pointing our imaginations in a different direction, "what if” there was a technology that could make some types of travel obsolete? Imagine a technology that enables face-to-face communication without traveling. Such technology exists today in the form of a VoIP video phone. "What if" a person or a company got the word out about this technology and people started using it to for distance learning, business discussions and extra “visits” with grandma?

Rising travel costs might become the stimulus that reinvigorates our neighborhoods. Maybe people will stay home more and we'll see a renaissance of picnics in the park, neighborhood block parties and folks sitting on the porch sharing a cup of coffee with a neighbor. Could the gas crunch revive the corner market and give a boost to telecommuting and home-based careers?

"To imagine the unimaginable is the highest use of the imagination." -- Cynthia Ozick

"If you can imagine it, you can achieve it.
If you can dream it, you can become it."
-- William Arthur Ward

Every problem is an opportunity. Imagine that!

God bless,

-- CC

© Copyright July 2008, Clancy Cross. All rights reserved.
Read more “Clancy’s Quotes” at: ClancyCross.WordPress.com

Recently Doug Fields, Segway's chief technology officer, left the company for Apple. I wasn't incredibly interested until I saw Job's reactions to a previous pitch for the new Ginger in 2003. Jeff Bezos, creator of Amazon, was also in attendance and offers good stuff with initial marketing ideas. Jobs starts doing a number on the lack of innovation Segway was working with. The best was when Jobs proclaims design teams that could "doing things that would make you shit your pants." Just think its cool to see the kind of things people like them talk about during these discussions.

According to Engadget, via the SegwayChat forums, Doug Field, Chief Technology Officer at Segway, is joining the ranks of Apple as VP of product design. The odd thing in this entire situation is a quote given by Steve Jobs about the Segway in its pre-production stage:

"I think it sucks," said Jobs, "Its shape is not innovative, it's not elegant, and it doesn't feel anthropomorphic."

Interesting...

The news that Doug Field, Segway's chief technology officer, has left the company for Apple, is one of those high-level personnel changes one feels obliged to comment on.

"So that's what MobileMe is all about," wrote one wag on The Mac Observers' Apple Finance Board.

"I can see it now," wrote another. "The iSegway - and you'll only be able to use it on roads Apple approves of, paying a toll via your iTunes account to access them." (link)

But the most intriguing comment on Apple and Segway to date comes from Steve Jobs himself, as told in Code Name Ginger: The Story Behind Segway and Dean Kamen's Quest to Invent a New World by Steve Kemper. In the book, Kemper describes a tempestuous 2001 meeting, arranged by Kleiner Perkins' John Doerr, in which inventor Dean Kamen gives Amazon's (AMZN) Jeff Bezos and Apple's (AAPL) Steve Jobs a preview of the people mover he was to introduce later that year.

Although Jobs was quoted in Time magazine as saying that the Segway would be "as big a deal as the PC," his reaction at this meeting is almost unprintable.

"I think it sucks!" said Jobs.

His vehemence made [Segway's] Tim [Adams] pause. "Why?" he asked, a bit stiffly.

"It just does."

"In what sense?" said Tim, getting his feet back under him. "Give me a clue."

"Its shape is not innovative, it's not elegant, it doesn't feel anthropomorphic," said Jobs, ticking off three of his design mantras.

"You have this incredibly innovative machine but it looks very traditional." The last word delivered like a stab. Doug Field and Scott Waters would have felt the wound; they admired Apple's design sense. Dean's intuition not to bring Doug had been right. "There are design firms out there that could come up with things we've never thought of," Jobs continued, "things that would make you s--t in your pants."

For the rest of the meeting, see the excerpt posted by the Harvard Business Review here.

Doug Field, capo del'azienda produttrice dei Segway, particolari mezzi di trasporto a due ruote, è stato appena assunto in Apple come Vicepresidente della divisione Product Design di Apple.

Sembra una decisione un po' strana per due motivi: principalmente perché la mela mangiata attualmente non ha bisogno di nuova linfa nel design dei prodotti, sezione dove spicca Jonathan Ive con tutti i suoi premi per Miglior Design nel suo campo. Tuttavia, a quanto sembra, Field non sostituirà il suo "collega", ma semplicemente svolgerà il lavoro quotidiano, sotto la supervisione di Ive
Seconda cosa molto interessante è che fin'ora Steve Jobs non si era mai interessato ai Segway, e quando gliene era stato proposto uno aveva lasciato solo questo commento: "I think it sucks!", senza nascondere il suo disappunto.

Evidentemente l'iCEO ora ha buona motivi per cambiare idea ed assumerlo! Vedremo che cosa riuscirà a fare, e nel frattempo auguriamogli buon lavoro!

Xinhua's photo gallery is here: Although the Segway use can be justified (sort of- though they would seem to be pretty difficult to balance under stress conditions), a question arises looking at Xinhua's photos, why is a flamethrower necessary for anti-terrorism drills at the Olympics?

In recent years, China installed fire extinguishers in Tiananmen to prevent people being lit on fire, after certain high-profile self-immolation protests in 2001.

One wonders how much danger the Beijing security details are expecting to handle-- and with what degree of deadly force. I spoke with an Olympic volunteer and was told they were very concerned, as all people at all Olympics are, about incidents at entrances to Olympic venues.

Another especial reason for Beijing's security worries; As recently as May 2008 an unexplained explosion that may have been intentional, went off on a Shanghai bus. Xinhua didn't initially attribute the explosion to terror, but TIME Magazine and people on the ground have suspicions. At minimum, following the explosion, Shanghai instituted new regulations about carrying certain materials on buses and increased anti-terror patrols, which leads one to believe that there may be some reason for these heightened concerns.

With luck, nothing untoward will happen in China during the Olympics. For China's sake, if something does happen, hopefully the police/military response is proportional and appropriate and that the coverage of said problem is transparent.

One thing that seems quite Odd is China has long believed very strongly that ignoring a problem, even after the problem has become well known, allows the country to save face. By covering-up details, forbidding publication of negative stories, and making everything seem happy, Chinese officials seek to win accolades (As I discuss in an earlier article).  Thus, they barred reporters from T$$$bet during the recent disturbances, then denied Chinese-instigated abuses (which may or may not have happened- since the West lacked independent reporting all it really has is a "monks said/Beijing says" dichotomy).

Simon Elegant at TIME Magazine thinks the media's coverage style is changing and the Chinese government is more willing to admit to problems rather than covering-them up; but he also points out difficulties suffered by Chinese trying to discuss incidents online.

Oh China, such an odd and amusing, but often frustrating place.

UNO, the bike of tomorrow is invented by a 19 year old Canadian, Ben Gulak from Toronto. It took him 2 years to develop this electro-mech marvel with a hefty price tag of $45,000.

UNO is a self balancing, battery powered unicycle which runs on two parallel-front-wheels. Built on top of a Yamaha R1 body, UNO seems like a cross fusion of a bike and a Segway, and can currently glide at a top speed of 24kmph. The inbuilt gyroscope helps the rider to self-balance without any extra effort.

Ben hopes that his UNO will be ready to hit the production line by 2010.

Bombardier® EMBRIO Concept

Ben Gulak's UNO concept is not first of its kind. Another Canadian based company, Bombardier Recreational Products, had outlined their Bombardier® EMBRIO Concept of hydrogen fuel cell powered, gyroscopically balanced, one-wheeled recreational and commuting vehicle back in 2003.  Their concept won  them a Golden Award at the 2003 Annual Design Awards (Industrial Design Society of America & Business Week Magazine).

BRP's UNO type Embrio concept is intended for the year 2025.

John McCain talks about a sermon he gave for the guys he was in the Vietnam prison camp, commonly called the "Hanoi Hilton.".  I wonder if his words will be used against him later, if elected, when considering the next war.  See if you know what I mean.

I loved Jeremy's post on the 4th of July.

Supreme Court rules on the 2nd Amendment.  I don't quite know how I feel about it.  Here is a very brief survey of the history of interpreting the 2nd Amendment.

Let us remember that our allegiance is not to be given to political parties.  This blog piece offers concern on the growing portrayal of Obama as savior, harkening to history of everything from Marxism to modern Conservativism as idolatrous counterfiets to where political hope is supposed to go.

More comentary on the Pew Study showing dire problems for the Church.

Growing fear over a new French particle accelerator, soon to go online, that could destroy the world.  But rest assured, there's only a 1 in 50 million chance that it will blow up Earth.  

I want this.  Would probably help with gas price rapage too.

I'm interested in kicking up a little theo-philisophical discourse on Atonement.  This re-stumbled upon this article, which was helpful to me way-back-when.  My views of this crux of Christianity has waffled back and forth constantly for the past couple of years.  What do you think about rejecting the Penal-Substitutionary Atontment understanding of the Cross? 

Quote I stumbled onto:  "Christians are not called to believe in the resurrection of Christ.  We are called to be the resurrection."  What do you think?  Heterodox or orthodox?

I needed to vomit when I read about the world's oldest new mother.

And lastly, and least importantly,  just as Alec Baldwin promised to leave the country if Bush was elected, his little Evangelical brother Stephen Baldwin has now promised to leave the country if Obama is elected.  Who cares?  Leave.

La imagen se ve impresionante, mas cuando yo los veo todos los dias en Paseo de la Reforma en la Ciudad de Mexico, jugando y con unas doñas dignas de concurso (sarcasmo claro).

Pero los Segway permiten utilizar las armas con las dos manos sin dejar de conducir el vehículo y su objetivo será el "rápido despliegue".

Y claro no contaminan ?

-Engadget

So that's where all the Segways went.....

" Watch yourself, Frank, we're dealing with professionals.... They've got a car! "

Visitors to this summer's Olympics in Beijing may see a familiar American gadget on the go, according to a report from the Xinhua News Agency, the official press agency of China.

China's military demonstrated on Tuesday their skills at balancing and shooting while on Segways during a series of drills of anti-terrorist units in Jinan, Shandong Province, according to Xinhua.

The Segway was demonstrated as a useful tool since it allows soldiers, once they are trained in balancing and maneuvering the machine, to keep both hands on their weapon while still accelerating and turning the device with their body movements. In skilled hands, a Segway could be kept still enough to offer a stable position from which to shoot.

While visually amusing, the use is not entirely surprising as Segway proudly touts its Robotic Mobility Platform (RMP) on its Web site and lists all four branches of the U.S. military as clients.

[VIA CNET]