rodeo

The name is a fortunate accident, but the fun of skiing with a group of open-source business executives is no accident at all.

The Open Source Goat Rodeo 2010 took place in Utah, February 4 through 6, and included great skiing, wonderful food, and exceptional people--including the first ever appearance by former MySQL CEO Marten Mickos.

As I do every year, I've created a video to highlight the activities and give a taste for the event. It's not a closed event: I hope you'll join us in 2011.

I probably should identify everyone by the color of … Read more

FORT HOOD, Texas--Soldiers and civilian contractors braved the heat here this week for the first Robotics Rodeo to view and interact with a long lineup of robot systems and to give feedback on which ones could potentially find a place in the U.S. Army's robo stable.

Despite the hundreds of military robots that show up in concept or as prototypes on company Web sites and corporate reports, humans still do the fighting on the ground and it's likely to stay that way for a while. However, there's a growing niche for "the dirty, the dull, … Read more

FORT HOOD, Texas--John Deere, a household name in the Lone Star state, is hoping the brand will carry over into the market for military unmanned runabouts.

At the Robotics Rodeo taking place this week here at this massive Army post, the company is demonstrating its R-Gator standalone, autonomous mule, which is based on its M-Gator model already in the field. Applications include reconnaissance, patrol, hauling supplies (up to 1,400 lbs.), casualty evacuation, and the "marsupial" capability--namely the ferrying and remote deployment of smaller, specialized robots. (PDF)

The unit uses John Deere's NavCom technology, GPS, and … Read more

The Open Source Goat Rodeo did its 2009 edition at Alta and Snowbird, Utah, on March 26 to 28, with a great group of executives from the open-source business community.

The snow was fantastic. The food was amazing. The friends? Even better.

OSGR2009 included the following fine folks: Matt Asay, Alfresco/CNET; Larry Augustin, Investor; Jay Batson, Acquia; Jeff Borek, IBM; Dries Buytaert, Acquia; Fabrizio Capobianco, Funambol; Tom Erickson, Acquia; Lonn Johnston, Page One PR; Paolo Juvara, Openbravo; Matt Mattox, Red Hat; Josep Mitja, Openbravo; Jose Morales, Jaspersoft; Mike Olson, Cloudera; John Robb, Yahoo/Zimbra; … Read more

I wasn't able to blog yesterday, as the Open Source Goat Rodeo kicked off its 2009 edition at Snowbird with amazing snow, bright sunshine, and wonderful people (some of whom can shred snow as if they never actually go to work...Lars/John/Paolo/Bryce, I'm thinking of you!):

The day ended in Salt Lake City with a Mormon Mousse Pie (Don't ask), consisting of white chocolate, dark chocolate, and milk chocolate mousse fillings, white chocolate shavings, and a dark chocolate crust that I improvised early Friday morning.

One great part of the first day for me, … Read more

Nintendo is smashing the competition in game consoles and Rafe thinks he knows the reason why. The G/D ratio will probably become a new economic leading indicator. We also determine just how long you should wait for Windows 7. And by determine, I mean Rafe and I fight over it and I win. And what do you think of the Microsoft store?

Unix Time stamp generator http://www.timestampgenerator.com/ http://news.cnet.com/8301-10797_3-10163129-235.html

Sources: Windows 7 moving toward 2009 release http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10162609-56.html

New Windows … Read more

A rodeo association has agreed to pay $25,000 to an animal welfare group to settle a lawsuit over the improper removal of videos from YouTube that showed roped calves being dragged off to die and tasers being used on tame horses to get them to buck.

In December 2007, YouTube removed dozens of rodeo videos after getting takedown notices from the Colorado-based Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association that claimed copyright violations under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).

The group that posted them, Showing Animals Respect and Kindness (SHARK), with the help of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, sued the rodeo group last summer. … Read more

Last December, YouTube removed more than a dozen videos on the site that showed common practices at rodeos, such as tame horses being tasered to make them buck and calves being injured in roping contests and dragged off to die.

The videos, and the account of the nonprofit anti-cruelty group that posted them--Showing Animals Respect and Kindness (SHARK)--were removed from YouTube for about two weeks after the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association claimed they violated copyright under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

YouTube put them back up after SHARK convinced the site that the DMCA takedown notices were improper. … Read more

A few years ago--specifically, after Sept. 11, 2001--something like a jewel-studded gas mask would have been considered to be in poor taste, to say the least. And it still is, in our opinion, but that doesn't count for much when you're talking about obscenely expensive designer items showcased at the Luxury Show 2008 in Bucharest. That was, after all, the site of such egregiousness as a 24k-plated Hummer.

The gems pictured here are the products of artist Diddo Velema' along with Gucci and Louis Vuitton, according to Dvice, some even encrusted with diamonds. Velema explains the concept thusly: &… Read more