Wii and Roomba Go To War

The Roomba vacuum robot which automatically cleans your floors and the hot-selling Wii game console from Ninetendo have become an unlikely duo saving the lives of American troops in the war on terror.

Seems that the iRobot company which manufactures the Roomba remote control home vacuum cleaner, uses its technology to create a small portable robot which safely detects booby traps and ambushes called the PackBot. Over 1000 of the devices have been delivered to the American military, where they are used to save lives by detecting booby traps and ambushes by remote control.

The most recent version of the iRobot is controlled by a device that is much like the hand controller for the XBox 360--which required two hands to be used. It works well, but, in a combat situation, soldiers are limited in their ability to move and to carry weapons when both hands are employed to control the iRobot. Thus, the quest for a 'one handed' controller for the PackBot.

Naturally, the solution lies in yet another bit of video game technology--the revolutionary, motion sensing, Wii game controller. Website Gizmodo.com reports, "David Bruemmer and Douglas Few, engineers at the US Department of Energy's Idaho National Lab in Idaho Falls, have put together an unlikely use for the Wiimote—they've hacked the remote so it can control a bomb-disposing, landmine-detecting, machine gun-carrying robot...by simply waving the remote around the robot moves accordingly, and when an object of explosive interest is detected, the Wiimote's in-built vibration feedback goes nuts.

So the insurgents are setting off their IED bombs using remote control garage door openers, and we are responding by sending in robot vacuum cleaners directed by video game controllers. How long will it be before La-Z-Boy wins one of those fat Pentagon contracts?

Bimmer Bummer--Shifting Supply To China

We know that sales of luxury goods are soaring in emerging economies. And, now, the Wall Street Journal reports BMW is shifting its inventory allocations from the US in favor of China and Russia.

"BMW Chief Executive Norbert Reithofer said in a conference call Tuesday that the company decided late last year to look at redirecting cars between markets to mitigate currency impacts. Referring to the U.S., Mr. Reithofer said BMW is reallocating cars to more-profitable markets such as China and Russia. The weak dollar, in particular, makes German cars less profitable for BMW to sell in the U.S., because its construction costs are in euros."

Expect to see black market Z4's smuggled in to Palm Beach via Shanghai.

House Of Blues

CNN reports, "The S&P Case/Shiller Home Price Index, which tracks 20 of the largest housing markets, showed prices plummeting by 12.7% in the 12 months ending February. That's the biggest fall since the index began tracking prices in 2000."

In related news, Forbes notes, "The number of foreclosures filed by US homeowners increased sharply for the seventh consecutive quarter, according to a private sector report released today.

In the three months ending in March, the number of foreclosures totaled 649,917, up 23 pct from the previous quarter and 112 pct from the first quarter of 2007, California-based RealtyTrac said."

Prices way down. Foreclosures way up. This may be one of those Minsky moments, when falling prices beget more falling prices, resulting in a housing death spiral. Tell me again why the recession will be short and shallow?

Cracking The Dollar

Here's a surprise. I agree with the Wall Street Journal this morning, as it calls for a return to sobriety in the Fed's fiscal policy.

"So Federal Reserve officials are whispering to reporters that they will consider a "pause" after another interest-rate cut this week. Perhaps we should be more respectful, but this sounds like the alcoholic who tells his wife he'll quit drinking next weekend, after one more bender. What Chairman Ben Bernanke needs isn't a gradual withdrawal from easy money but membership in Central Bankers Anonymous.

Eight months into the Fed's most recent rate-cutting spree, the evidence is overwhelming that it has been a major policy mistake. Aggressive rate cutting – taking the fed funds rate to 2.25% from 5.25% last September – has had little effect on the banking crisis it was supposed to ease."

The editorial goes on to suggest that the recent surge in oil price from $70 to $119 a barrel is linked to the plunging value of the dollar, caused by the slashing of interest rates. The same is true for other commodity prices, especially those for foodstuffs.

"This is a direct tax on both the world's poor and America's middle class. Just when the U.S. economy needs a resilient consumer given the fall in housing prices, these price increases have eviscerated consumer pocketbooks. In its attempt to help Wall Street and the financial system, Fed policy is punishing average Americans. The public is frustrated and angry with these price increases, and it has a right to be. Inflation is the thief of the thrifty middle class."

On the heels of the WSJ editorial, the head of OPEC forecasts the possibility of $200 a barrel oil in today's London Times: "The president of OPEC, the cartel of oil-producing countries, has given warning that the price of crude could hit $200 a barrel, sparking fears that rising fuel costs will force more businesses into bankruptcy.

Chakib Khelil, the Algerian Energy Minister and president of OPEC, said that the falling value of the US dollar would continue to drive up oil prices as investors sought to store their wealth in other assets."

Other assets, eh? So maybe I should just park my car and let that Texaco Tiger in my tank appreciate...

(We are all doomed anyway according to The Financial Ninja, as banks have lost the capacity to lend)

The Test Of Democracy Is Freedom Of Criticism

Simon Elegant, a Time Magazine correspondent based in Beijing, reports "'Simon, you will be hated by 1.3 billion Chinese,' someone wrote in response to my blog post about the chaotic progress of the Olympic torch through London. 'Hope someday someone will spit on your face. Your name will be recorded in Chinese history book forever as one of cold blooded, Hitler-type, murder's assistant.'"

Among some Chinese, nationalism, fueled by resentment of Western coverage of the recent riot in Tibet, is on the rise.

And that's not good for either China or the rest of the globe.

France has been singled out for particularly harsh treatment since a Chinese Olympic torch-bearer in a wheelchair was photographed defending the flame from highly aggressive protesters in Paris. Foreign governments are terrified to have the wrath of the Chinese people directed against them. Too much trade is at stake.

No surprise then that "Former French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin said Friday his country wanted to be the best friend of China in Europe and hoped to strengthen the strategic partnership between the two nations." as reported in China's official organ, the People's Daily Online.

The protests are not confined to China. The LA Times reports that several thousand Chinese nationals marched this week in Los Angeles to protest perceived biased and anti-Chinese reporting on CNN. "...when more than 1,000 demonstrators including students, business people and engineers from mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Southeast Asia rallied in front of CNN's Hollywood headquarters a week ago, it marked a milestone for the local Chinese community."

This can get nasty, unless everyone finds a way to 'save face' and allow for inevitable tensions that results when various factions begin to express their right to self-expression. For so long, the West doubted that the Chinese people had a voice. Now that they are finding it, Westerners resent what they say.

We are brought around to David Ben-Gurion's thought that "the test of democracy is freedom of criticism."

Rebates End Recession?

WASHINGTON - President Bush said tax rebates will start going out Monday, earlier than previously announced, and should help Americans cope with rising gasoline and food prices, as well as aid a slumping economy.


While Bush suggests the rebate will be a great way to pay off those inflated oil prices, we note this from FINTAG a few days ago-------->


Let them eat cake, indeed.

Icy Flight Problems

From the WSJ

"In a few weeks, these people said, investigators are likely to warn operators and pilots of Boeing Co.'s long-haul 777 models to take extra precautions when monitoring fuel temperatures on a growing number of extended flights over the North Pole. If temperatures creep too low, pilots can descend to warmer air or speed up to increase the heat generated by air friction against the plane's skin."

Back in the day when Ernest K. Gann wrote the aviation classic "Fate Is The Hunter" ice was was a killer that formed on wings and control surfaces, destroying aerodynamics and increasing weight until airplanes fell from the sky.

We like to think our technology solves all problems. But, of course, the law of unintended consequences and hubris tend to bite us in the butt just when we get comfortable in that new recliner.

Icing has moved from outside the airplane to inside--in this example, Boeing 777's flying polar routes to save fuel are finding that those super-cold temperatures are causing minute amounts of water that contaminate all aviation fuel (they are in your car too, but seldom cause problems) are freezing, and then clogging the flow of fuel to the engines.

That seems to be the cause of that 777 crash at Heathrow, as the Journal notes, "Investigators suspect that the Jan. 17 accident at London's Heathrow Airport occurred because slush or ice built up in part of the fuel system of the British Airways 777 during a long polar flight from China in unusually cold outside temperatures. As the widebody jet descended toward London, remnants of icy particles likely clogged a portion of its fuel system, starving the Rolls-Royce engines and providing minimal power despite pilot commands for more thrust."

Naturally, all parties involved deny responsibility.

"Though some are arguing for design changes, a team of U.S. and British investigators hasn't reached a consensus on whether to recommend modifications to make the fuel systems on some Boeing 777s more resistant to unusually frigid conditions. Such a move could be seen as a public relations blow to Boeing and Rolls-Royce PLC, which supplied the engines and related hardware on the accident aircraft."

Same old story. Protect corporate reputations (aka bottom lines) while consumers suffer and die.

BTW--Ernest K. Gann finally quit flying, believing that while Fate is a hunter that will ultimately find its prey, sometimes you can step out of the way just a bit. Something to ponder the next time you board that polar-bound China Clipper.