In e99 of Exponent, Ben Thompson makes a compelling case for his idea that {{Amazon Echo}} (Alexa) is an operating system – and that Amazon has beaten Apple (with {{Siri}}) and {{Google Home}} (with Assistant) at the very game they both try to play. And I think he’s onto the start of something (he goes …
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Tag:automation
i’m a medium plogger now*
(*Though most people would call me an {{XXXL}} blogger.) Following in the steps of Dave Winer, I am now plogging (sorta) on Medium. And, like Mr Winer, I’m doing it via IFTTT (though not via {{RSS}}, I’m doing it via the {{WordPress}} channel). If you’d like to do the same, use this IFTTT recipe.
automation is a multiplier
Multipliers. They’re ubiquitous – from ratchet wrenches to fertilizer, blocks-and-tackle to calculators, humans rely on multipliers all the time. Multipliers are amazing things because they allow an individual to “do more with less” – a single person can build a coral castle with nothing more complex than simple machines. Or move 70 people at 70 miles …
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what level of abstraction is appropriate?
Every day we all work at multiple levels of abstraction. Perhaps this XKCD comic sums it up best: But unless you’re weird and think about these kinds of things (like I do), you probably just run through your life happily interacting at whatever level seems most appropriate at the time. Most drivers, for example, don’t …
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ifttt & box drive my desktop backgrounds … with a little cron happiness
I love that {{OS X}} lets me change my background on a schedule (I use every 30 minutes now). But I don’t like having to find pictures to populate my desktop menagerie with. Enter completely SFW backgrounds via RSS feeds! Using IFTTT, I watch for new items from a variety of daily photo feeds, and …
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a sample cfengine promise bundle – delete “large” files
body common control { bundlesequence => { “file_remover” }; } bundle agent file_remover { vars: “bigfile” int => “1g”; files: “/home” delete => tidy, file_select => files_too_big, depth_search => recurse(“inf”); reports: “Deleted files over $(bigfile) in size from /home”; } body depth_search recurse(d) { depth => “$(d)”; } body delete tidy { dirlinks => “delete”; …
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what to automate
I have been in the world of automation for quite a while. Specifically in the realms of server, datacenter, and cloud automation – but I’ve been interested and/or involved in other tasks that tend towards automation (even for a short period of time) for far longer than just my post-college time in the world of …
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programming your home by mike riley
{{Mike Riley}}’s entry in {{The Pragmatic Programmers}} series, {{Programming Your Home}} – automating with {{Arduino}}, {{Android}}, and your computer – was a lot of fun. While I am not really in a position to do many of the mini projects given in the book (wrong type of house plus we rent), reading some of the …
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automation {gp}
The way people moved up the ladder in IT during my early days (starting in 1975) was to take on new projects that allowed them time to master the new software and become the local expert. As you became the local expert on many new software products, management became very comfortable giving you more and …
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automating or automation?
I have been working in the realm of “automation” – specifically data center automation – for several years. Merriam-Webster defines “automating” thusly: to operate by automation to convert to largely automatic operation <automate a process> Notice the subtle difference with M-W’s definition of “automation“: the technique of making an apparatus, a process, or a system operate automatically the state of being …
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delivering solutions – “shipping is a feature!”
Back in 2009, {{Joel Spolsky}} wrote an article called The Duct Tape Programmer. Of everything he has written, I think this is the very pinnacle, and it is summed in one simple sentence in the middle: “Shipping is a feature.” I’ve referenced this article twice before (in Feb and Sep of ’11). Why is this …
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geeks night out
Last week I went to the Geeks’ Night Out at Beerworks in Lexington. One of the people I met was a junior EE major at UK named Robyn who, along with two of her friends, is looking to start a home automation company (The Unity Box) – but not in the realm of a company …
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automation
I have been deeply involved in data center management and automation for well over 5 years. Most companies still view automation the Wrong Way™, though – and it’s a hard mindset to change. Automation is NOT about reducing your headcount, or reducing hiring. Automation is used to: improve the efficiency of business tasks improve employee productivity reduce human …
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