Daily Archives: June 2, 2021

Tennessee is telling LGBTQ people we aren’t welcome. It’s time we listened to what they’re saying. – LGBTQ Nation

Posted: June 2, 2021 at 5:32 am

To anyone who will pay attention, I recommend the late comedian Bill Hicks.

So many people say that we sorely needed the wit and insight of George Carlin in 2016 and still need it in the years since.Thats not something I can disagree with though, given the opportunity, I will argue that weve needed Bill Hicks even more.

Related: Tennessee enacts law allowing youth a reasonable accommodation to avoid trans kids

While he knew he was dying, he served up the most vicious takedown conceivable of so-called reality TV.

Okay, many of us today properly deride the cancer that is that part of our culture. But Hicks offered that takedown in 1993 well before it metastasized and ate a generations collective brain.

He also offered an interesting take on the previous years Rodney King Riots (as well as the trial that preceded them, though thats a different matter entirely, and a take that includes some decidedly politically incorrect language). In a pre-internet world, Hicks hopped on a plane for a trip from L.A. to London, arriving in the latter having no clue as to the carnage that began in the former just after his flight left.

His description of the newspaper headlines he saw when he got to Heathrow? L.A. Burns to Ground.

His comedy routine recollection of his first thought upon seeing the headline? He must have left a lit cigarette back at his west coast apartment.

I too was on a journey as L.A. was burning.Nothing that fancy, though and certainly not trans-Atlantic.I was driving through the backwoods of east Texas, headed towards Little Rock, Arkansas to attempt to peddle some artwork at a sci-fi convention.

But instead of hanging around at the convention during the weekend, I ventured north to make some more artwork photos of other backroads that Id not yet seen in states Id never set foot in.

Missouri, Tennessee, KentuckyAnd Illinois the state I find myself a resident of almost three decades later.

Granted, over the course of less than two full days, I didnt have a chance to get very far into Illinois. Where I now live would have to wait for a few years; instead, I just made a quick jaunt into the decaying town of Cairo, known for not much else than being the sentry at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers.

I was well into adulthood, but ultimately I was still the frightened little kid from Texas whose father repeatedly spewed tales of the inherently evil and poisonous nature of everything north of where he was born (southern Arkansas). Such rants often included mention of what he branded as a diseased industrial cesspool but what most folks call the Ohio River (and the less of what he had to say about Illinois as a whole the better).

But, when I drove across the Hwy. 51 bridge over the Ohio, I didnt die. I didnt develop boils. I didnt join the Communist Party. I didnt turn trans; I was born this way.

All I did was look to the south and see two really big batches of water becoming one even bigger batch.Its still a pretty cool sight; if youre ever in the area, I recommend taking a peek at it even if you need to detour a bit.

And all throughout that weekend, I felt alive. As for my cheezy, crappy art that I was headed back to Little Rock to check on? Well, to no great shock, I didnt sell squat. Ive gotten far more use out of the photos I took that weekend.

And thats in addition to the now-sometimes-fleeting remembrances of just feeling alive.

In a very real sense, you can draw a straight (no pun intended) line from my rambling adventure that weekend to the very fact that you are looking at my words right now. Later that summer I drove out to California though only to Needles (cue Three Dog Night); the summer after that: San Francisco (and another sci-fi convention attended by people who had the good sense not to buy any of my crappy sci-fi art); the summer after that: Canada (cue Leonard Cohen); two summers after that: England (cue Blur). Now, as Bill Hicks did, I had help from a plane to get across the pond but once there when I wasnt on foot I was on wheels on the left side of the road.

May 1992 was one small part of my coming out of a shell. It took a bit longer for me to get up the courage to begin the transition process, but it is not hyperbole to say that one would not have happened without the other.

Likewise, I cant imagine my ever going to law schoolAnd then after that moving from Texas to MinnesotaOr from there to Iowa

Or from there to Illinois and an often stressful (yet never dull) career Id have never had and a really cool colleague Id have never met had things not gone the way they have.

But all of this is not merely reminiscing about a few days I took off from work 29 years ago; nor is it just a shout-out to a colleague at my present-day job.

Its something Im doing to distract myself from so much else of the present day some of it personal that gives me the weepies on occasion and something that some will say is political, though it is anything but.

This signage mandate from Tennessee does a bit more than make me cry: This facility maintains a policy of allowing the use of restrooms by either biological sex, regardless of the designation on the restroom.

True, it is just businesses and government buildings that must obey the sign-wearing edict.

Now.

Your guess is as good as mine as to when Tennessee politicos decide to put the display burden not on the certain places that have restroom facilities but on certain people who might need to use those facilities.You shouldnt need a Ph.D. in history to see what this Tennessee law is a precursor to.

So, no, this is neither reminiscence nor shout-out.

It is none of that.It is pure fear.

Fear of what this new law is really saying. For it says nothing about protecting anyone.

Instead, it is an aspirational statement of national enforced conformity: a statement that a certain category of people a category to which I belong should stay in our place. They say that I should never burden respectable jurisdictions with my presence. They say that my cis colleague and I should never have had the opportunity to work together as equals and that future trans women and cis women never will.

True, the new law could not reach back in time to criminalize my use of public accommodations in Tennessee 29 springs ago even if I had by then transitionedBut I have wandered through the state on a few occasions since transitioning.

And, make no mistake, the people who put this law into force are telegraphing to the world in no uncertain terms that if they could criminalize us ex post facto, they would.

And they are telling me that, should I get the urge to drive down to Texas later this year for my moms 90th birthday, Id better not have the temerity to take a route that goes through Tennessee.

And they are telling us all so much more.Theyre telling us what they think of us.

We fail to believe them at our peril.

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Tennessee is telling LGBTQ people we aren't welcome. It's time we listened to what they're saying. - LGBTQ Nation

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Aha! Alan Partridge is heading to the Edinburgh Playhouse – The Scotsman

Posted: at 5:32 am

Discover just what that plan is when Stratagem with Alan Partridge, a live stage show starring the award-winning Steve Coogan tours to the Edinburgh Playhouse next Spring.

Love him or loathe him, there's no escaping Coogans Marmite creation. Over a multi-decade broadcasting career, this 'wonderful and surprisingly well-read man has brought delight to millions his words. And now, in a country riven with discord and disease, Alan is touring the land with a message of hope.

Described as a live stage show that promises to inform, educate and entertain in approximately equal measure, Stratagem finds Alan Partridge wearing a head-mic of the type favoured by TED talkers, market hawkers, TV evangelists, backing singers and carnival barkers, as he attempts to combine all these roles and more. He has a manifesto for the way we can move forward, a road-map to a better tomorrow, an ABC for the way to be.

Coogan is currently on location in the Capital filming The Lost King, which tells the true story of how the remains of King Richard III were discovered under a carpark in Leicester in 2012. Coogan plays the husband of historian Philippa Langley, who had a key role in unlocking the mystery.

Stratagem with Alan Partridge comes to The Playhouse on May 26, 2022. Tickets go on sale to the general public on Saturday, May 29 at 9am from http://www.atgtickets.com/Edinburgh

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DUP and Sinn Fein urged to keep powersharing show on the road – TheJournal.ie

Posted: at 5:32 am

THE NEW LEADER of the Ulster Unionist Party has urged the DUP and Sinn Fein to keep the show on the road in terms of the powersharing government in Northern Ireland.

Days ahead of DUP leader Edwin Poots expected unveiling of his new ministerial team, and amid speculation over whether Sinn Fein will support the nomination of new ministers without a commitment over Irish language legislation, Doug Beattie said the Executive has to last.

There is also speculation that the next Assembly elections may be called before they are due to take place in May 2022.

It (the Executive) has to last, it has got to last for the people of this part of the United Kingdom, our Executive needs to keep going, Mr Beattie told RTEs The Week In Politics programme.

So theres an onus on the DUP, and there is an onus on Sinn Fein also to be generous with this because we are in a degree of instability, and they need to carry on and keep the Executive on the tracks until the elections in May next year.

Then in May next year people will be able to vote as to what way they want to go forward from that moment onwards. But the last thing we need is for the Executive to collapse, for there to be even more instability here in Northern Ireland.

Our people have suffered enough, its time politicians just held their ground, gave a little bit to each other, were a little bit more gracious and just make sure that we can provide for the people of Northern Ireland, particularly that we are coming off a pandemic which has absolutely decimated our lives.

The DUP and Sinn Fein really need to do a bit of mature politics here and just keep this show on the road.

DUP leader Edwin Poots with Ian Paisley Jnr Source: Brian Lawless/PA

Mr Beattie described a tumultuous couple of weeks in unionism but said the UUP had gone about their leadership handover in a very different way to the DUP.

We have done everything face to face with our previous leader and then we have gone out to the media and weve put our message across, he said.

We have done a smooth transition.

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Unfortunately with the DUP it has been a bit more fractious and thats not good for Northern Ireland we need stability here more than anything else.

As for anybody who wants to come to the Ulster Unionist Party we are an open party, we are a welcoming party but its not a home for people who just have a different view, or want to come and settle in here. You have to share our vision for the future, you have to share our values.

But Ill not take anyone on board just as a home because they are disgruntled with the DUP.

Mr Beattie said he will speak to everyone, including the Irish Government, the EU and the UK Government.

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Friends: Body Shaming, Gay Jokes To Sociopaths, B*tchy Leads How The Show Turned Irreverently Iconic – Koimoi

Posted: at 5:32 am

Friends & The Art Of Being Irreverently Iconic (Photo Credit: IMDb)

You would find plenty of warts about Friends, even at a casual glance. Its about guys and girls in a couple of New York City apartments theyd probably be hard-pressed to afford, given their economic conditions over most of the shows 10-year run. Their sole problem in life seems to be falling in and out of love. The storyline you got over a decade could well be capsuled into a two-hour Hollywood rom-com.

The show has been accused of body shaming, gay jokes and, lately, non-inclusivity, and its lead players of being sociopaths, unrealistic, philanderers and, at least one of them, selfish indecisive b***h.

Lifes like that, isnt it full of warts and often politically incorrect. Friends chose to show it all with abundant humour that never failed to be funny, serving the silly with a twist of the irreverent. Its the reason the show survived all of the above.

The May 27 special, Friends: The Reunion, underlined that the 17 years that have passed since the last episode aired in 2004 have been more than just about survival in fan psyche. The complete absence of any fresh on-screen activity on the part of Rachel, Monica, Phoebe, Joey, Chandler and Ross coupled with gossip about the actors that bring them alive, involving everything from Botox to drugs to inability handle fame only heightened the lure of the show, adding to the hysteria as it quietly kept building over the years.

In India, for the record, the unscripted special clocked one million views within hours across the country. For a country that had hardly found any representation in the fictional world that the show set up over a decade, thats a staggering statistic. Most social media reactions coming out of India, just as the rest of the world, have mirrored the sentimental frenzy that the show has built for itself. It shows the legend of Friends has only grown over 17 years cutting across demographic lines.

There is a pattern that pop culture follows. First comes the success, and only if the success sustains over a period of time does it pave way for an iconic stature. Notably, despite success, mainstream entertainment is often trivialised by those who look for finer sensibility even in what is meant to be served as mass entertainment. Friends did have to contend with as much during its decade-long run.

But the series faced a second problem the fact that it was a comedy. The genre finds an instant fan base but it is prone to get dated soon enough, too, because comedy is thought to lack the essential heft to be taken seriously in the long run as, say, political drama, or biographical and historical fiction.

It would be simplistic to say the series managed to survive these challenges only because it has doled out a brand of humour that was down to earth, and in some way or the other delivered the lessons of life. Even today, after having watched the show a zillion times, one doesnt exactly sit down to watch the odd episode to draw life lessons from Friends.

The secret for the show crafting and sustaining an iconic stature lies in the fact that it continues to make the nineties and the noughties look happier than they probably were. Add to that the youth factor, which never fails to appeal. It is something that continues to set apart Friends from every other commercial entertainer of its era that might have also been mega-successful.

With Lisa Kudrow resolutely over-ruling any chance of a Friends revival towards the end of the reunion special, the popular sentiment for the original series only grows stronger. It gives an added incentive for fans to romance what they have already seen many times. Kudrow and her co-stars Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer would be aware of the fact. If the shows slant at iconic irreverence ensures it will never go out of vogue, that is the casts ticket to television immortality.

Must Read: Friends Earned Whopping $1.4 Billion Over The Years But Can You Guess How Much Jennifer Aniston, Matt LeBlanc & The Cast Made?

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Cork teen: Why you should support the vote at 16 – Echo Live

Posted: at 5:32 am

POLITICS affects us all, but currently not all of us can affect politics.

The recent legislative moves to allow 16 and 17 year olds to vote aim to change this.

The usual argument against lowering the voting age seems to be that 16-year-olds are simply too immature and ill informed to be granted the right to vote. However, through my experience in youth activism, Ive worked with teenagers who have presented to cabinet members, who have organised worldwide protests, and who have published reports in conjecture with the ESRI.

These 16 and 17 year olds are far more politically engaged than the average adult.

At 16 years old you can pay taxes, consent to medical treatment, begin to work and finish school, yet you are forbidden from participating in the most fundamental democratic institutions: voting for your leaders.

From student council members to the national executive staff of the Irish Second Level Students Union, 16-years-olds are integral to the political fabric of this country.

Well, almost integral, despite the fact that politically involved teenagers tirelessly work to improve our society, we refuse to let them vote. By doing this we deny them the political representation they deserve and effectively attempt to silence their voices.

Of course, there are some teenagers who have no interest in governmental affairs and this is understandable.

Why on earth should they care about the leaders they didnt choose? About the policies they didnt vote for? If we want our young people to become active citizens, it is imperative we let them vote.

Moreover, The culture pervaded by partisan politics and democracy as a whole means that elected officials cater to those who can vote. This makes sense if you dont get the votes, you dont get a chance to change anything. Unfortunately, this results in the needs of people who cannot vote being ignored.

The vast majority of 16 and 17 year olds are seen by politicians as little more than a photo opportunity.

These teenagers have minds of their own and ideas of how to improve the country. Yet, until they are given the right to vote they will never be taken seriously.

Much of the issues that affect young people are decided by those who are far older than them. Take education for example, in 2018 Ireland spent only 3.5% of its GDP on education, the second lowest in the OECD. The government is able to invest so poorly in students because the vast majority cannot vote and therefore have very little political capital.

I worked on the ISSUs 2021 Senior Cycle reform survey and report. We received responses from thousands of teenagers who were astutely able to spot the flaws in the Senior Cycle System and how they could be improved. Yet, because 16 and 17 year olds lack the right to vote, their proposals and opinions are continually ignored.

The future leaders of this country are 16 right now. However, if we continue to deny 16 years olds the right to vote, they will simply become disinterested in politics. This severely limits the pool of potential candidates for election and could lead to the eventual breakdown of our democratic system.

Irelands voter turnout rates are dropping, especially in European elections. Its incredibly frustrating to see adults squandering their chance to make a difference in their society when adolescents would love to to have this opportunity. Those aged 16 and 17 have a higher voter turnout rate than any other generation, with 75% voting and 97% saying they would vote in future elections. The patterns formed at age 16 will continue into the future. By allowing adolescents to vote we are creating a generation of active citizens. This will allow Irish democracy to thrive.

I have spent this article so far praising young people. However Im not going to sit here and tell you that all 16 and 17 year olds are highly politically aware and will use their vote maturely and responsibly. But lets be honest, there are a fair few adults that dont use their vote wisely either. In every election, some spoil their ballots or cast their votes for joke candidates. Its incorrect to argue that 16 year olds cannot be given the right to vote because they would use it irresponsibly when legal adults are exhibiting theat very behaviours.

If we are to create a generation of politically aware and active citizens we cant stop at granting 16 year olds the right to vote.

We also need to seriously improve the level of political education in secondary schools. Junior Cycle CSPE is seen as little more than a joke.

The Leaving Cert equivalent: politics and society is not available to all students. 16 year olds deserve not just the right to vote but also the knowledge on how to vote in a politically astute manner.

ABOUT THE ISSU

The Irish Second-Level Students Union (ISSU) is the national representative body for second-level school students in the Republic of Ireland.

The ISSU works towards an education system in which the views, opinions and contributions of students are respected and in which students are recognised as an official partner in creating an education that is centered around and caters best for students.

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Hunting for more innovators in the software automation space: Kicking off the third annual UiPath Automation Awards – Tech.eu

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Editors note: This is a sponsored article, which means it is independently written by our editorial team but financially supported by another organisation, in this case, UiPath. If you would like to learn more about sponsored posts on Tech.eu, read this and contact us if you are interested inpartnering with us.

Enterprise automation software firm UiPath recently launched the third edition of its annual UiPath Automation Awards, a competition designed to champion the most promising startups and scale-ups in the field of enterprise software automation, where the Romania-born company has made its own mark over the years.

Zooming in on Central and Eastern Europe region and Turkey, UiPath is on the hunt for interesting B2B software automation companies to enter its awards competition before the September 1 deadline. The mission of the UiPath Automation Awards 2021 is to enable the further development of creative business ideas and 'foster the capacity to scale early-stage companies and entrepreneurial ventures from those regions'.

Ultimately, UiPath aims to leverage its annual competition to help identify the next generation of technologies and products that can have a global impact and 'revolutionise the larger ecosystem of automation solutions'.

There are two categories for entry, targeting both enterprise automation software startups and scale-ups. You can read more about the requirements for each, and submit your application, right over here.

Last year, the top startup and scale-up awards were snatched by Romania's Neurolabs, and a Poland-based scale-up called Salesbook, respectively.

"Winning the UiPath Automation Awards has fast-forwarded our entrance and advancement into the automation space. The external recognition we received from winning this prize, combined with the hands-on, expert guidance from various UiPath teams, propelled our business forward and helped us navigate what until recently had been new territory for us," said Paul Pop, co-founder and CEO of Neurolabs, about what the competition has meant for his company.

Dariusz Nawojczyk, CMO of Salesbook, said: "Winning the UiPath Automation Awards reminded us that it is worth taking every risk while thinking about your start-up idea and that hard work will eventually pay off. The competition is a great launchpad for scale-ups in the CEE &Turkey that want to scale beyond the region. I encourage everyone to take part in the UiPath Automation Awards 2021 you will have a great chance to test your ideas, your product, and your resilience, and that will already make you a winner."

Itself founded out of a small apartment in Bucharest back in 2005, UiPath will help the victorious companies level up. The company will provide the winners in the startup category of the UiPath Automation Awards with mentorship, a 50,000 cash prize, and substantial tech and marketing support over a period of 12 months.

The scale-up category winners will receive C- level mentorship, sales and marketing support, including the opportunity to present the winning technology to UiPath global clients, and have their winning solutions featured in the UiPath Immersion Lab.

Vargha Moayed, Chief Strategy Officer at UiPath, said: "We know the triumphs and challenges that young companies encounter as they evolve and innovate. Given the fast pace of innovation in software automation and the technologys huge yet untapped potential to make the world a better place, we are highly motivated and committed to help emerging players in the space to reach their full potential and scale globally."

UiPath has been organising the competition in various places: the first edition in 2019 was held in its hometown of Bucharest, and last year's edition obviously took place online. Now, they're going hybrid!

Tech.eu is partnering with UiPath to help stage the competition at the upcoming edition of Wolves Summit, which will take place both online and physically in Wroclaw (Poland), on the 20th of October 2021.

"As a testament to our team's relentless determination over the last 12 months, we feel both honoured and excited to host the UiPath Automation Awards 2021 edition online and in-person in Wroclaw, one of the largest AI hubs in Poland. We are happy to be able to provide the platform and tangible support to UiPath to select the next automation champions in the CEE and Turkey," said Michael Chaffe, CEO of Wolves Summit.

"At Wolves Summit we strive to support the growth of the CEE innovation ecosystem, and we know we can best achieve this by partnering with forward-thinking organisations and individuals sharing our mission," he added.

To clarify, startups and scale-ups from the following countries can apply for the awards: Albania, Belarus, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Moldova, Poland, Romania, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Ukraine, Serbia, Montenegro, and Turkey.

Applications for the UiPath Automation Awards 2021 can be submitted here; you have time until the 1st of September to toss your hat into the ring.

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Incorporating Robots Into the Automation Continuum – Robotics Business Review

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The relationship between humans and robots will soon deepen, thanks to affective computing, the overarching term for the study, technologies and development of systems that identify, process, and simulate human feelings and emotions. Today we have rudimentary capabilities in software and hardware to perform sensory responses within given environments. As robots are taught how to respond to human emotions, and as engineers abstract lessons from human evolution about how people see, move, balance, hear, and feel, we will be able to better understand how cognition works. The sensing abilities of robots will evolve, and automation ecosystems will expand.

These advancements mean that automation ecosystems currently operating in controlled environments, such as a factory floor or a space satellite, will be adaptable to more chaotic and unpredictable environments think autonomous vehicles driving on busy city streets, or humanoid robots helping the disabled navigate crowded sidewalks. This expansion of the automation continuum, which involves many different players, rapidly evolving technologies and reams of data, comes with many challenges.

The McKinsey Simplification ModelTo facilitate automation adoption, value, and further growth, McKinsey, the global management consulting firm, has developed a model that synthesizes industry recommendations into a single concept simplification in three essential areas.

Simpler to ApplyRobot developers and integrators need to make it easier for potential end users to envision compelling scenarios. Simplification in this realm could mean something as basic as providing software that closes the gap between conceivability and installation, helping end users prove their design concepts before committing to a final investment.

A prime example comes from ABB Robotics, where visitors to the companys website are given access to a build-your-own cobot application. Working with intuitive menus, users can browse for functions they need, with options including part handling, screwdriving, visual inspection, and tell us more. Users go on to select how the cobot picks up parts and puts them down; where its vision sensors are placed; what communications protocols are used; and whether the cobot will be mounted on a wall, table, or ceiling. Illustrations clarify the choices throughout. Once completed, the program evaluates the selections, then delivers a customized video simulation of how the cobot, fully installed, would perform.

In short, the robots have access to more data for analysis and decision-making. Then edge computing opens the door for even more intimate collaborations between machines and between man and machine.

Simpler to ConnectMcKinsey advises that robot manufacturers need to deliver secure, flexible connectivity. A key goal is to achieve interoperability. The robots should be able to readily connect not only with other robots but also with the full range of intelligent systems, edge, cloud, analytics, and similar tools and devices.

Cobots rely on multiple sensors and tools such as AI to make sense of and operate safely in the world around them. Simultaneously, the environment it is installed in, or traveling through, will feature multiple sensor-intensive intelligent devices. The challenge is that IoT and robotics technology are often considered separate fields. Thus the synergies across the two disciplines go unexplored. But reimagined together, IoT and industrial robotics become the Internet of Robotic Things, or IoRT.

To date, robotics and IoT have been driven by varying yet highly related objectives. IoT focuses on supporting services for pervasive sensing, monitoring, and tracking, while the robotics community focuses on production, action, interaction, and autonomous behavior. By fusing the two fields, the resulting wider-scale digital presence means intelligent sensor and data analytics are feeding better situational awareness information to robots, which means they can better execute their tasks. In short, the robots have access to more data for analysis and decision-making. Then edge computing opens the door for even more intimate collaborations between machines and between man and machine.

Simpler to RunParadoxically, as robots become ever more sophisticated, capable, and flexible, the effort required by end users to train them often declines. Leading manufacturers understand that shortening the learning cycle is an important means of elevating the appeal of industrial robots.

Companies like Fanuc harness AI and related technologies to accelerate teaching and learning processes. Similarly, Locus Robotics advertises warehouse robots that are so easy to train they can be deployed in just four weeks. Interfaces and tools that drive robotic learning are becoming simpler, clearer, and more efficient for end users. Such improvements are a key focus across the industry.

ConclusionThe cognitive capabilities of robots are already becoming indispensable as the COVID-19 pandemic revealed an urgent need to create more resilient supply chains and protect human workers. The business implications of the new intelligent systems world mean that the dynamics for decision-making in robotic systems are evolving rapidly. What we might once have seen as incremental steps now become opportunities for transformation.

To date, the robotics and IoT communities have been driven by varying, yet highly related objectives. IoT focuses on services for pervasive sensing, monitoring, and tracking, while the robotics community focuses on production action, interaction, and autonomous behavior. Fusing both fields leads to better robotics task execution. The robots have more data for analysis and AI enabled decision-making. In this way, edge computing opens the door for even closer collaboration between man and machine.

About the Author

Michel Chabroux, Senior Director, Product Management, Wind River

Michel Chabroux is responsible for the Product Management team driving technology and business strategies for Wind Rivers runtime environments, including the VxWorks and Wind River Linux families of products. He has more than 20 years of industry experience including roles in technical sales, support, training and product management. Prior to joining Wind River, he was a consultant in Business Management and Information Systems working with a variety of clients. He holds a Masters degree in Computer Science Applied to Business Administration from Universite de Lorraine.

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Instacarts reported plan to automate its workforce seems a lot like bluster – The Verge

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Instacart has big plans to automate parts of its grocery delivery business, reports Bloomberg, but the companys schemes look as much like bluster as ambition.

Bloomberg details a plan for the gig-work grocery-delivery network to build automated fulfillment centers around the US, where hundreds of robots would fetch boxes of cereal and cans of soup while humans gather produce and deli products. Some centers would be built next to grocery stores while others would be standalone operations. Instacart would partner with a supermarket chain to handle inventory, contract out the automation side of things to a robotics firm, and take care of processing orders and deliveries itself. If it works, the system would automate out huge portions of the companys freelance workforce.

It doesnt seem like Instacart is making much progress, though. Bloomberg notes that although the company has been working on these plans for more than a year, it has yet to sign up a single supermarket chain and has fallen behind schedule in developing its fulfillment centers. Meanwhile, another report from the Financial Times in February suggested the company planned to open as many as 50 centers in about a year. The clock is definitely ticking on that.

There are certainly real reasons Instacart would want to automate. The companys current business model relies on paying hundreds of thousands of gig workers to do customers shopping for them. This approach has found plenty of customers as its convenient and allows supermarkets to offer online shopping and delivery without creating their own service.

But this setup has problems, too. As Bloomberg notes, shopping with Instacart is expensive. The companys delivery fees, tips, and markups add 25 percent to order costs, according to data from consulting firm MWPVL International Inc. Another source of tension is that supermarkets dont want Instacart stealing their business in the long run. Theyve been happy to partner with the company when they had no other way to offer online shopping and delivery, but thats changing, says Bloomberg, with new options for delivery offered by startups and existing food delivery businesses expanding their reach.

Both of these factors put pressure on Instacart, and thats particularly bad at a time when the firm wants to go public, either through a direct listing or an IPO (originally rumored for early this year and now reportedly pushed back to the end of 2021). Making big plans to automate its business seems like a way of allaying some of these pressures giving investors hope that the company can lower costs and find a new way to work with supermarkets.

Certainly, automating grocery shopping is not out of the question in the long term. Grocery firm Ocado, for example, has huge operations that use both robots and humans to pack orders and is partnering with chains in the US that want to leverage that tech. But using robots in this way is still in its infancy: it requires huge investment and patience to work out the kinks and cant just be tacked onto a business.

Meanwhile, its not clear how sustainable Instacarts current business really is. As a private firm, we dont know how much money its making or losing, but The Information reported that it only made its first profit in early 2020 thanks to booming pandemic sales. Meanwhile, the company has been repeatedly accused of exploiting its workforce in an unsustainable manner, particularly during the pandemic.

Overall, the situation feels similar to that of Uber, where the company repeatedly promised that its loss-making, gig economy business would become sustainable when it developed self-driving cars to replace all those pesky humans. And we all know how that ended: the taxi firm sold its self-driving team in December last year.

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Instacarts reported plan to automate its workforce seems a lot like bluster - The Verge

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[Webinar] Everyday automation and the route forward No Robots Required – June 16th, 11:00 am – 12:00 pm ET – JD Supra

Posted: at 5:32 am

Automation in the legal industry is becoming increasingly common. Still, theres plenty of confusion and even a little mystery surrounding the topic. In this webinar, Womble Bond Dickinsons US Knowledge Management team members will share their thoughts on everyday automation and how they incorporate Neotas app-development platform into existing processes successfully.

The key takeaways from this webinar:

Neota Logic will join Womble Bond Dickinson to expand on the benefits of using their app development platform in a law firm setting.

This webinar will be hosted alongside ILTA.

Speakers:

Jonathan Jochem Director, Markets & Growth, Americas Neota Logic

Before joining Neota Logic, Jonathan has spent 24 years teaching, consulting, and selling for legal technology companies. First, with ProLaw Software that Thomson Reuters later acquired, he automated corporate legal departments and government agencies. During his time with Thomson Reuters, Jonathan worked with hundreds of clients to improve their legal software systems, including the California Department of Justice and Farmers Insurance. More recently, he worked with startup legal technology companies to introduce platform as a service (PaaS) solutions into corporate legal and government organizations.

Stephen Chan Director of Knowledge Solutions Womble Bond Dickinson

Stephen collaborates with lawyers, IT professionals, and vendors to design systems that help our attorneys work smarter and more efficiently. His professional background includes working as a paralegal, an attorney, and a librarian at Campbell University School of Law. Stephen holds masters degrees in Library Science and Educational Media and a Juris Doctorate degree from the UNH Franklin Pierce School of Law.

Melanie Segreaves Solutions Analyst Womble Bond Dickinson

As a solutions analyst on Womble Bond Dickinsons KM Team, Melanie works in the trenches with attorneys and staff to automate a wide range of tasks essential to firm business. She has played an integral role in expanding the use of Neota Logic and was responsible for several firm-wide applications deployed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Melanie is a former member of the firms Client Development department and brings over 15 years of sales and marketing experience to the KM Team.

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[Webinar] Everyday automation and the route forward No Robots Required - June 16th, 11:00 am - 12:00 pm ET - JD Supra

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Brew smarter using increased automation, for water usage to cleaning and dispensing processes – Craft Brewing Business

Posted: at 5:32 am

As we begin to see some light at the end of the tunnel of the COVID-19 pandemic with the development of vaccines and reopening of restaurants, bars and taprooms, for brewers, it might feel just as challenging as it does exciting. Prior to the pandemic, as craft brewing gained momentum and craft beers gained popularity, brewers were already facing a number of hurdles conserving resources and ensuring a consistent product in the face of growing competition among them.

As we start to bounce back from the heavy impact the pandemic had on the craft brewing industry, consistency remains a challenge, along with others: cost savings, sustainability initiatives and the aluminum shortage. If youre in the brewing industry, juggling all of these issues likely seems nothing short of overwhelming. But, by approaching them strategically and creating efficiencies in your breweries, you can come out ahead and focus on what matters most: your product.

Automation is one way to save time, money and resources, and its not reserved solely for large breweries. There are simple, cost-effective changes that small and large brewers alike can make to save on resources and work toward sustainability goals.

Theres a reason why larger breweries have automated the majority of their processes, from brewing to sanitation to packaging. Automation helps dial in chemical concentrations, conductivity probes and titration, minimizing waste and providing the exact amount of chemistry, water and resources a brewer needs to produce their product. This precision creates significant savings in water usage, chemical usage and labor, as well as improve safety and help make a remarkably consistent product, meaning brewers not only have a much more efficient process, but a higher level of quality control.

Some breweries have automated brewing processes, but some still rely on manual labor for cleaning and sanitation or may not have automated any processes yet. However, concerns around the environment, COVID-19 and product quality make automation perhaps even more beneficial to brewers than in the early days of craft brewing.

Here are some areas where automation can help control and reduce.

1. Water usage

According to Statista, there are now nearly 8,800 breweries in the United States, and the average brewer uses seven barrels of water to every barrel of beer produced (Brewers Association). Thats an enormous amount of water, regardless of the number of barrels of beer you produce for example, if you produce 5,000 gallons of beer per year, thats 35,000 gallons of water, while the most efficient (often automated) processes use a much lower ratio of water used to beer produced (e.g., 4:1). 7:1 is not only a lot of wasted water but also a lot of wasted money as well literally going down the drain.

Coupled with the heavy usage of water is an increasing concern about phosphorus pollution. With many cleaning chemicals containing phosphates and an increase in sanitation following the COVID-19 pandemic local municipalities are tightening regulations on wastewater to help curb phosphorus pollution and prevent algae blooms or threats to wildlife and the environment. That means breweries may need to reevaluate the sanitation chemistries theyre using or reduce water usage to avoid fines and a negative impact on the environment.

Automation helps brewers mitigate these issues by controlling the amount of water used in brewing and cleaning processes. Because automated systems use the proper amount of water required nothing more, nothing less automation creates consistency and helps brewers avoid using excess water. Automation will ultimately help you minimize water consumption at your brewery, which in turn will help you ensure a consistent product and avoid unnecessary costs and negative impacts on the environment.

Do you love brewing equipment? Ok, thats a little weird, but its cool. We get it. Dig all these stories on brewing equipment. Get sick with it!

2. Chemical use

Automated systems work to control chemical usage in the same way as they do water and remove human error from the sanitation process. Automated equipment helps achieve the right chemical concentrations, which can end up saving large amounts of chemical (as well as water). Theres a perception that using more cleaning chemicals or higher concentrations will result in better sanitation. However, chemistries that are too concentrated or over-applied will require an increase in rinse water. This increase potentially exposes the surface to more bacteria and can negatively affect the quality and flavor of the end product, while wasting both chemicals and water. Automation will dispense the correct amount of chemicals every time, whereas the concentrations will likely vary even mixed by the most careful human worker and have the possibility of spillage.

3. Energy consumption

Like water and chemical usage, automation also allows brewers to dial in energy consumption and temperature control. In some systems, brewers can even adjust and monitor temperatures remotely, helping to ensure accuracy and consistency, while also saving energy. Consistency in the temperature during the brewing process is particularly important, not only for the product, but also in saving natural gas 45 percent of a brewerys natural gas consumption comes in brewing itself, and thermal sources average 70 percent of the energy consumed in the brewery, accounting for 30 percent of the total energy cost, according to the Brewers Association.

While we tend to see energy as an expense we cant control, like the Brewers Association writes, breweries that do not pay attention to the opportunities at all levels of their operations may miss out on potential cost saving and revenue generating measures. Temperature control during brewing is certainly one of those measures and is easy to implement and efficient in practice.

Its no secret that automated equipment can be an upfront investment, and its not always one thats immediately feasible depending on the size of the brewery. Automating routine processes like cleaning-in-place (CIP) or other sanitation practices is a cost-effective way to start seeing a return on investment more immediately. Sanitation equipment like high efficiency pumps, foamers and dispensing units provide the exact amount and concentration of chemical needed with a smaller investment. Brewers looking for long-term solutions or more significant water and chemical savings can look into centralized and decentralized automation systems. These more complex systems not only offer chemical and water precision but can also be accessed remotely and provide reports for higher accuracy.

If you havent yet considered automation or are just starting to, now is the time to review your brewerys processes and where you can start saving. After industry-wide disruption, were at an important crossroads. We can return to previously existing norms, create new ones, or fall somewhere in between. Automation gives us the opportunity to innovate within our practices, overcome monumental challenges, and reinvent the industry regardless of how many barrels we produce.

George Allen is the business development director of brewing and distilling at Birko.

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Brew smarter using increased automation, for water usage to cleaning and dispensing processes - Craft Brewing Business

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