"Only in Japan". Info Trends Stock tip:
THE ARMY RUNS ON BATTERIES AS WELL AS FOOD When one airborne infantry unit moved into Iraq, its 720 soldiers carried as many as 12,000 batteries in 22 varieties -- everything from 3-volt silver Duracells the size of small marbles to big green devices that look like doorstops. The batteries power all kinds of gizmos: laser sights, night-vision scopes, high-power flashlights, global-positioning devices, radios and chemical-weapon detectors, among others. But as with Palm Pilots and BlackBerries in civilian life, battery-powered devices are a double-edged sword for the Army: The more they help, the more they rule. "Every time we buy a new piece of equipment from a different company, it requires a new battery," says Capt. Andrew Sparkman, 26 years old, the head supply officer for the unit, which is formally called the first battalion of the second brigade of the 101st Airborne Division. Capt. Sparkman says that for him, keeping up with batteries is as much of a challenge as tracking use of ammunition. Back in his tent, Capt. Sparkman keeps a battery-status spreadsheet on his laptop. He says he can't wait for the day when batteries go the route of fuel. During Desert Storm, different vehicles required different varieties. Now, he says, every vehicle runs on standard diesel fuel. 20 March 2003 The Wall Street Journal future of work??? THE HUMAN TOUCH WITH A VIRTUAL RECEPTIONIST A virtual receptionist who can read the emotions of visitors and make the appropriate verbal responses has been launched in Japan. According to the Kyodo news agency, the US$15,000 virtual receptionist is is a program residing on a PC at the reception desk. She appears as a woman dressed in a uniform on a monitor, and for now can converse in Japanese and English. Made by start-up firm A.G.I. Corp, the report said that a camera first picks up the appearance of a visitor, which causes the receptionist to greet the person. Then microphones pick up the visitor's voice and the voice recognition software attempts to analyze what the person is looking for and give the appropriate response, such as referring them to the department or person they are looking for. But the sensitive microphones of the system can also pick up emotional cues, such as anger. "When an angry customer comes to complain about something, the virtual receptionist can quickly understand the person's feeling and respond in a sincere and apologetic manner," said the Kyodo report. The next version of the software will allow the receptionist to make small talk with waiting visitors, A.G.I. told Kyodo. The firm expects to sell 1,000 units of the system this year. ( Source: <http://asia.cnet.com/newstech/personaltech/0,39001147,39122466,00.htm> _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://scribe.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://scribe.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
